Showing results for "abridged"

• past participle of abridge.
• past tense form of abridge.

abridged

American  

[uh-brijd] / əˈbrɪdʒd /

adjective

1. (of a book, document, presentation, etc.) shortened by omitting less important parts while retaining the basic content.

   I didn't realize it was an abridged audiobook until I was surprised by how fast it was over.

2. reduced or lessened in duration, scope, authority, etc.; diminished or curtailed.

   Any time anyone's opportunity to vote is hampered, we need to do whatever we can to see that those abridged rights are faced, challenged, and changed.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of abridge.

Etymology

Origin of abridged

abridge ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

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Explanation

An abridged version of a book is a shortened version: it's not complete because parts have been cut or omitted. Sometimes you have time to read all of something, but other times you don't. When you need to save time, you might need to look at an abridged version of a book. This is also called the "Reader's Digest version" of something, because that magazine publishes many abridged pieces. Reading an abridged text may save time, but don't kid yourself: the stuff left out was important too. If you really like an author, forget the abridged version and read the whole thing.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

abridged

It also happens to be a marvelously made movie, though the elder Kazan focused solely on the fourth and final section of the novel, leaving it not just abridged but a bit adrift.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

And it can think coherently for so long that even an abridged version of the model’s “chain of thought” ran more than 75,000 words—the length of the first “Harry Potter” book.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026

The 15th Amendment says that the right to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race.

From Slate ● May 8, 2026

There are abridged biographies of certain people throughout the book.

From Salon ● Dec. 28, 2024

It was a paperback prose translation, abridged, set loose from its numbers, robbed of the music of the ancient Greek but—as far as I was concerned—still a terrific read.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

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Related Words

• deficient
• fragmentary
• inadequate
• insufficient
• lacking
• partial
• sketchy

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