adj · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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/ˈpɪθi/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adj
Meaning 2
Of, like, or abounding in pith; spongy or having small holes or pits.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
1863, Theodore Winthrop, “The Heart of the Andes”, Part 2 – Introduction, published posthumously in Life in the Open Air and other papers, Must we know the torrid zone only through travelled bananas, plucked too soon and pithy? or by bottled anacondas? or by the tarry-flavored slang of forecastle-bred paroquets?
1910, Liberty Hyde Bailey, Manual of Gardening, Suggestions and Reminders I: For the North, April, Parsnip.—Dig the roots before they grow and become soft and pithy.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
adj
Meaning 3
Vigorous, powerful, strong; substantial.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Scotland, archaic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
adjective satellite
Meaning 4
concise and full of meaning- Hervey Allen
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
welcomed her pithy comments
the peculiarly sardonic and sententious style in which Don Luis composed his epigrams
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: sententious
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Middle English pithy, pythy, equivalent to pith + -y.
Across languages
Translations
47 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
съдържателен
(sǎdǎržatelen)
— concise and meaningful
Chinese Mandarin:
精闢 /精辟
(jīngpì)
— concise and meaningful
Czech:
výstižný
— concise and meaningful
Czech:
jadrný
— concise and meaningful
Czech:
trefný
— concise and meaningful
Czech:
pregnantní
— concise and meaningful
Dutch:
kernachtig
— concise and meaningful
Dutch:
beknopt
— concise and meaningful
Dutch:
bondig
— concise and meaningful
Finnish:
ytimekäs
— concise and meaningful
French:
bref
— concise and meaningful
French:
concis
— concise and meaningful
French:
laconique
— concise and meaningful
French:
sommaire
— concise and meaningful
French:
succinct
— concise and meaningful
German:
kernig
— concise and meaningful
German:
knackig
— concise and meaningful
German:
markig
— concise and meaningful
German:
prägnant
— concise and meaningful
Hungarian:
velős
— concise and meaningful
Lithuanian:
glaustas
— concise and meaningful
Macedonian:
содр́жаен
(sodŕžaen)
— concise and meaningful
Norwegian Nynorsk:
ordhag
— concise and meaningful
Norwegian Nynorsk:
kjernefull
— concise and meaningful
Polish:
zwięzły
— concise and meaningful
Portuguese:
conciso
— concise and meaningful
Portuguese:
sentencioso
— concise and meaningful
Portuguese:
lacónico
— concise and meaningful
Portuguese:
sucinto
— concise and meaningful
Portuguese:
incisivo
— concise and meaningful
Romanian:
concis
— concise and meaningful
Romanian:
laconic
— concise and meaningful
Romanian:
succint
— concise and meaningful
Russian:
ёмкий
(jómkij)
— concise and meaningful
Russian:
сжатый
(sžatyj)
— concise and meaningful
Spanish:
conciso
— concise and meaningful
Spanish:
lacónico
— concise and meaningful
Spanish:
lapidario
— concise and meaningful
Spanish:
incisivo
— concise and meaningful
Spanish:
sucinto
— concise and meaningful
Swedish:
kärnfull
— concise and meaningful
Turkish:
veciz
— concise and meaningful
Ottoman Turkish:
وجیز
(veciz)
— concise and meaningful
Dutch:
mergachtig
— of, like, or abounding in pith
Dutch:
rijk aan merg
— of, like, or abounding in pith
French:
moelleux
— of, like, or abounding in pith
Swedish:
kärnfull
— of, like, or abounding in pith