compendious

American  

[kuhm-pen-dee-uhs] / kəmˈpɛn di əs /

adjective

1. of or like a compendium; containing the substance of a subject, often an exclusive subject, in a brief form; concise.

   a compendious history of the world.

   Synonyms:

   packed, succinct, comprehensive, summary

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compendious British  

/ kəmˈpɛndɪəs /

adjective

1. containing or stating the essentials of a subject in a concise form; succinct

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Other Word Forms

• compendiously adverb
• compendiousness noun
• uncompendious adjective

Etymology

Origin of compendious

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Latin word compendiōsus. See compendium, -ous

Example Sentences

“The book is compendious and revelatory, a statement of the man in his own words, and I found myself knowing my father in new ways through these letters.”

From New York Times • Nov. 30, 2022

Nonetheless, astronomers and astrophysicists came together to write a single compendious paper about the event.

From Science Magazine • Oct. 16, 2017

It may be odd not to find it in this compendious store of resonances .

From The New Yorker • Oct. 11, 2015

Her new book, How to be a Victorian – sturdy, Beetonian, compendious – has bigger ambitions.

From The Guardian • Jul. 12, 2013

The reader must not expect to find in it a compendious summary of the chief events in the history of ancient Greece.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 4 "Grasshopper" to "Greek Language" by Various