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summary

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adjective

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective summary contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of summary are compendious, concise, laconic, pithy, succinct, and terse. While all these words mean "very brief in statement or expression," summary suggests the statement of main points with no elaboration or explanation.

a summary listing of the year's main events

When would compendious be a good substitute for summary?

The words compendious and summary are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, compendious applies to what is at once full in scope and brief and concise in treatment.

a compendious dictionary

When is concise a more appropriate choice than summary?

In some situations, the words concise and summary are roughly equivalent. However, concise suggests the removal of all that is superfluous or elaborative.

a concise description

When is it sensible to use laconic instead of summary?

While in some cases nearly identical to summary, laconic implies brevity to the point of seeming rude, indifferent, or mysterious.

an aloof and laconic stranger

How does the word pithy relate to other synonyms for summary?

Pithy adds to succinct or terse the implication of richness of meaning or substance.

a comedy sharpened by pithy one-liners

When might succinct be a better fit than summary?

The meanings of succinct and summary largely overlap; however, succinct implies the greatest possible compression.

a succinct letter of resignation

When can terse be used instead of summary?

The words terse and summary can be used in similar contexts, but terse implies pointed conciseness.

a terse reply

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of summary
Noun
On Monday, Chegg sued Google , claiming that the latter’s AI summaries of search results have hurt Chegg’s traffic and revenue. Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 25 Feb. 2025 In her thorough, compelling summary of the 41-day trial, Adams shows how the plaintiffs painstakingly established that school segregation was primarily a result of residential segregation. Barbara Spindel, The Christian Science Monitor, 25 Feb. 2025
Adjective
The Virtual Assistant was able to relay what participants said almost perfectly, as well as break things down into summary topics. Robert Anderson, PCMAG, 23 Sep. 2024 April 3 — Ukraine discovers Russian atrocities in Bucha Russia's hasty retreat from Kyiv's suburbs revealed evidence of summary executions, beheadings, torture, rape, and other atrocities. Peter Weber, theweek, 14 May 2024 See All Example Sentences for summary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for summary
Noun
  • Mohan and adapting screenwriter Nikita Lalwani take the sturdy outline of the film’s predecessor and tweak little details to add a more potent punch.
    Courtney Howard, Variety, 6 Mar. 2025
  • By December 2024, the outlines of Rwanda’s larger project were becoming clearer.
    Michela Wrong, Foreign Affairs, 3 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Her offbeat style and charming eccentricity informed the concise lineup in which high and low were intentionally merged.
    WWD, WWD, 3 Mar. 2025
  • In this comprehensive yet concise history of modern polar exploration, Shubin, a professor of evolutionary biology, mixes urgent scientific findings about glaciers and sea-level rise with prescient geopolitical histories of Arctic territorial disputes.
    The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • In addition to New York, attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin signed on to the brief.
    Scott Neuman, NPR, 27 Feb. 2025
  • Even so, Thompson wrote in a legal brief released Tuesday, the defense had still yet to specify where the defendant was at the time of the crime, or identify anyone else who can help confirm his whereabouts.
    Kevin Fixler, Idaho Statesman, 26 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Rabelais points out that there are oddities in the world that cannot fit into any classification scheme, more things in our heaven and earth than are dreamt of in either the medieval pretensions of the summa or the ambitious early modern bibliographic machines.
    Brendan Fitzgerald, Longreads, 27 Dec. 2024
  • The stage was set for the Fourth, whose five movements add up to a summa of Bartók’s art, by turns tenaciously labored, sinuously swirling, nocturnally eerie, pizzicato-punchy, and flat-out wild.
    Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
Noun
  • The Wiretap is your weekly digest of cybersecurity, internet privacy and surveillance news.
    Thomas Brewster, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025
  • Angel Soft toilet tissue will be around for the moment after all that food digests.
    Brian Steinberg, Variety, 7 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Or in sum, uncivilized peoples of uncivilized spaces.
    Christine Winter, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
  • These superfans have always commanded a disproportionate sum of influence.
    Bing Chen, TIME, 28 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • In the travel industry, for example, vertical AI can manage real-time pricing, personalize customer experiences and optimize inventory management—tasks that require a deep understanding of travel-specific data and consumer behavior.
    Jeff Kim, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2025
  • Beauty companies have noted a slowdown since the beginning of the second half of 2024, which has continue into the first quarter of 2025, weighed down by the ongoing weakness of the Chinese market, and inventory reductions in the U.S. and in travel retail.
    Jennifer Weil, WWD, 27 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • His resume includes five years in Atlanta, a stop in St. Louis in 2015 and seven years in Chicago.
    Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Mar. 2025
  • King’s resume included a slate of more than 50 films over his years at Concordia Studio, Participant, Focus Features and Miramax Films.
    Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 5 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Summary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/summary. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.

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