briefly giving the gist of something; "a short and compendious book"; "a compact style is brief and pithy"; "succinct comparisons"; "a summary formulation of a wide-ranging subject"
characterized by extreme economy of expression or omission of superfluous elements; "the dialogue is elliptic and full of dark hints"; "the explanation was concise, even elliptical to the verge of obscurity"- H.O.Taylor