adjective
- penetrating; cutting; biting; trenchant: an incisive tone of voice.
- remarkably clear and direct; sharp; keen; acute: an incisive method of summarizing the issue.
- adapted for cutting or piercing.
- of or relating to the incisors: the incisive teeth.
adjective
- keen, penetrating, or acute
- biting or sarcastic; mordantan incisive remark
- having a sharp cutting edgeincisive teeth
early 15c., inscisif, “slashing, cutting with a sharp edge,” from Middle French incisif and directly from Medieval Latin incisivus, from Latin incis-, past participle stem of incidere (see incision). Originally literal; figurative sense of “mentally acute” first recorded 1850 as a borrowing from French. Related: Incisively; incisiveness.
adj.
- Having the power to cut.
- Relating to the incisor teeth.