epigram

[ep-i-gram] /ˈɛp ɪˌgræm/

noun

any witty, ingenious, or pointed saying tersely expressed.

Oscar Wilde had a genius for epigram.

a short, often satirical poem dealing concisely with a single subject and usually ending with a witty or ingenious turn of thought.

Origin

1400-50; late Middle English < Latin epigramma < Greek epígramma inscription, epigram. See epi-, -gram¹

Can be confused

epigram, epigraph, epitaph, epithet.

Synonyms

1. witticism, quip, bon mot.

Examples from the web for epigram

In fairness, Nehru should be credited with one classic epigram.
There is epigram; but epigram is not multiplied for its own sake.
The difficulty, however, could not be solved by an epigram.
So one might say that the idea of exceptionalism is thoroughly unexceptional, if you'll pardon the epigram.
As reviving as an epigram.
There's only one flavorful epigram in the entire pastiche.
Like a bee or an epigram, all his sting is in his tail.
Faced with the central epigram, I find it both ponderous and contrived.
In a Greek epigram she is described as she who has given birth to.
The epigram by which his name is chiefly known at the present.

British Dictionary definitions for epigram

epigram

/ˈɛpɪˌɡræm/

noun

a witty, often paradoxical remark, concisely expressed

a short, pungent, and often satirical poem, esp one having a witty and ingenious ending

Derived Forms

epigrammatic, adjective
epigrammatically, adverb

Word Origin

C15: from Latin epigramma, from Greek: inscription, from epigraphein to write upon, from graphein to write

Word Origin and History for epigram

mid-15c., from Middle French épigramme, from Latin epigramma "an inscription," from Greek epigramma "an inscription, epitaph, epigram," from epigraphein "to write on, inscribe" (see epigraph). Related: Epigrammatist.

epigram in Culture

epigram definition

Any pithy, witty saying or short poem. An aphorism can serve as an epigram, if it is brief.

Note: Several authors are noted for their epigrams, including Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde. One of Wilde's epigrams is “I can resist everything except temptation.”

Note: Two other words are similar: an epigraph is usually an inscription, as on a statue; an epitaph can be such an inscription or it can be a brief literary note commemorating a dead person.