pithy
- 1Expressed in few words but full of meaning.
Her pithy summary of the report saved everyone an hour of reading.
The coach was famous for pithy remarks that players remembered for years.
UsageUsually praise: pithy suggests substance, while terse can sound curt.
Similarconcise, succinct, terse, pointed, crisp
Oppositeverbose, wordy, long-winded, rambling
Note
It is praise for compression: the saying is short and still lands its point, which is why it pairs so readily with quotable, as in David Foster Wallace's "pithy and quotable answers".
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- David Foster Wallace used the exact phrase “pithy and quotable answers”. en.wiktionary.org
- 2Consisting of, like, or full of pith; spongy, or riddled with small holes or pits.
Radishes left in the ground too long turn pithy and lose their crunch.
The elder's stems are pithy at the center, which makes them easy to hollow out.
Similarspongy
Note
In the garden and the kitchen this is a fault: a root left in the ground too long goes soft and pithy, its flesh spongy where it should be crisp. Liberty Hyde Bailey's Manual of Gardening (1910) tells growers to dig parsnips before they reach that stage. A plant stem can be pithy by nature; a parsnip or radish that turns pithy is past its best.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
- Roots left too long can become soft and pithy; Bailey specifically describes this deterioration in parsnips. gutenberg.org
- Liberty Hyde Bailey wrote Manual of Gardening, published in 1910. biodiversitylibrary.org
- Manual of Gardening advises growers to dig parsnips before they become soft and pithy. gutenberg.org
- Pithiness can be a natural characteristic of a plant stem. en.wikipedia.org
- Pithiness in radishes means a spongy texture associated with declining eating quality. extension.illinois.edu
Less common meaning
- 3Vigorous, strong, or powerful; having real substance.
His bairns a’ before the flood / Had langer tack o’ fleſh and blood, / And on mair pithy ſhanks they ſtood / Than Noah’s line, / Wha ſtill hae been a feckleſs brood / Wi’ drinking wine.
1773, R[obert] Fergusson, “Caller Water”
Practice
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Origin
From Middle English pithy or pythy, equivalent to pith + -y.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- Pithy comes from Middle English pithy or pythy and is equivalent to pith plus the suffix -y. en.wiktionary.org