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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
There's also a feature that provides a summary of user reviews. Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 22 May 2025 Only tips reported to the employer and noted on a worker’s W-2, their end-of-year tax summary, would qualify. Wyatte Grantham-Philips, Chicago Tribune, 22 May 2025
Adjective
He is accused of acting as the de facto leader of the Davao Death Squad, a group that was responsible for summary executions and the murder or disappearance of more than 1,000 people in and around the city. Lisandro Claudio, The Conversation, 12 Mar. 2025 Organized labor wanted to institute procedural reforms to ensure that officers were given opportunities to correct bad behavior before being let go—no more summary firings. Marc J. Dunkelman, TIME, 27 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for summary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for summary
Noun
  • The outline of the initial report — a contract extension for Crow-Armstrong potentially worth around $75 million — has been characterized as inaccurate.
    Patrick Mooney, New York Times, 28 May 2025
  • In 2019, then-Senate Banking Chair Mike Crapo, an Idaho Republican, released a three-page outline that would turn the institutions into private guarantors with a limited share of the mortgage market.
    Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Quartz, 28 May 2025
Adjective
  • In a concise 30-to-45-minute session, volunteers learn to recognize warning signs, ask direct questions, validate the veterans' experience, and expedite referral to services—summarized by the acronym SAVE.
    Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 26 May 2025
  • Scheduling a concise daily standup meeting can keep alignment tight.
    Max Avery, Forbes.com, 23 May 2025
Noun
  • Twenty-three Republican attorneys general filed a brief in agreement.
    Molly Redden, ProPublica, 23 May 2025
  • Over the past three decades, the average retirement age has risen by about three years, economist Alicia Munnell reports in an April research brief.
    Daniel de Visé, USA Today, 23 May 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
  • Now read the latest Pixel 10 Pro, Samsung Galaxy, and Android headlines in Forbes' weekly smartphone news digest...
    Ewan Spence, Forbes.com, 22 May 2025
  • Over the next three months, the newspaper offered a weekly digest of anarchist arguments.
    Geoffrey Baym, The Conversation, 5 May 2025
Noun
  • But Golden Dome may ultimately cost much more than Trump’s staggering $175-billion sum.
    Lee Billings, Scientific American, 21 May 2025
  • The money is coming from aging baby boomers and members of the silent generation, who have amassed a staggering sum in home equity, investments and other assets over the years.
    Daniel de Visé, USA Today, 21 May 2025
Noun
  • Target has struggled with merchandise missteps, retail crime, and inventory management.
    Siddharth Cavale, USA Today, 22 May 2025
  • These systems can automatically execute purchases at scale, often before legitimate retailers can adjust their inventory strategies.
    Rochelle Thielen, Forbes.com, 21 May 2025
Noun
  • Caminero, Misner and several others, including Lowe, shortstop Taylor Walls and Jose Caballero, who has expanded his resume this season, have contributed to the aforementioned fielding percentage.
    Tom Layberger, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025
  • Drake added another No. 1 album to his resume with $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, which was also PARTYNEXTDOOR’s first No. 1 album achieving the highest first-week sales.
    Armon Sadler, VIBE.com, 28 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Summary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/summary. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.

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