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Webster 1913 Edition


Curtly

Curt′ly

(kûrt′ly̆)
,
adv.
In a curt manner.

Webster 1828 Edition


Curtly

CURTLY

,
adv.
Briefly. [Not in use.]

Definition 2024


curtly

curtly

English

Adverb

curtly (comparative more curtly, superlative most curtly)

  1. In a curt manner; tersely, almost rudely.
    • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “chapter XVIII”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, OCLC 1227855:
      The thing I wanted most at this juncture was to have a heart-to-heart talk with that young femme fatale, and after roaming hither and thither for a while I found her in my chair on the lawn, reading the Ma Cream book in which I had been engrossed when these doings had started. She greeted me with a bright smile, and said: “Back already? Did you find it?” With a strong effort I mastered my emotion and replied curtly but civilly that the answer was in the negative. “No,” I said, “I did not find it.”