Which word describes speech that uses very few words?

• A. Laud
• B. Laconic
• C. Loquacious
• D. Misanthrope

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is knowing vocabulary for how much someone speaks. Laconic describes speech that uses very few words—concise and to the point. It comes from the ancient Greek region of Laconia, and in practice a laconic reply is brief yet often carries contrastive impact, like a short “Yes” or “No.”

In contrast, to laud is to praise someone or something, which is unrelated to how much someone speaks. Loquacious refers to someone who talks a lot, the opposite of brief. A misanthrope is a person who dislikes people, which also has no relation to speech length.

So, the word that best fits “speech that uses very few words” is laconic.