Gricean maxims

proper noun

A set of four maxims of cooperative conversation, those being quantity (adequately succinct statements), quality (truthful statements), relation (statements pertinent to the conversation at hand), and manner (comprehensible statements), that describe tacit rules observed by all interlocutors.

“In order to flout all Gricean maxims at once, tell an excessively long lie about a topic irrelevant to the conversation at hand in a language not understood by the person you're talking to.”

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Meanings

proper nounthe Gricean maxims

alternative Grice's maxims

  1. human sciencesA set of four maxims of cooperative conversation, those being quantity (adequately succinct statements), quality (truthful statements), relation (statements pertinent to the conversation at hand), and manner (comprehensible statements), that describe tacit rules observed by all interlocutors.

    In order to flout all Gricean maxims at once, tell an excessively long lie about a topic irrelevant to the conversation at hand in a language not understood by the person you're talking to.

Origin

First described by British philosopher Paul Grice in his 1967 lectures.

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Cite this entry
APA

Gricean maxims. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gricean%20maxims

MLA

“Gricean maxims.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gricean%20maxims. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Gricean maxims,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gricean%20maxims.

Source: Gricean maxims on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.