broad-brush
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of broad-brush
First recorded in 1965–70
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
These are broad-brush figures, but how do you make heat pumps pay, given their generally higher up-front cost?
From BBC • Mar. 22, 2026
The broad-brush picture is known: About 60 million years ago, the Indian Plate began to plow into Eurasia and thrust up the Himalayas, the highest mountains on Earth.
From Science Magazine • Nov. 17, 2024
Leaders who have been critical of specific types of diversity programs from within the industry argue that broad-brush criticisms of D.E.I. can be counterproductive, distracting from meaningful efforts to reform corporate diversity initiatives.
From New York Times • Jan. 22, 2024
“The detail that will be revealed, this beautiful complexity that’s gonna show up—that will fine tune our ability to go from broad-brush histories of the solar system” to something more measured and precise, says Bannister.
From National Geographic • Jan. 9, 2024
Or, we could react to the increase in patients seeking treatment with broad-brush skepticism, positing that the new patients won’t necessarily benefit the way previous, but much smaller, cohorts have.
From Slate • Mar. 8, 2023
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
