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Synonyms

in a nutshell

Idioms  

  1. Concisely, in a few words, as in Here's our proposal—in a nutshell, we want to sell the business to you. This hyperbolic expression alludes to the Roman writer Pliny's description of Homer's Iliad being copied in so tiny a hand that it could fit in a nutshell. For a time it referred to anything compressed, but from the 1500s on it referred mainly to written or spoken words.

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.

Dimon, in a nutshell, told him to stop lying on TV, according to people familiar with the conversation.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

"My life is basically Brentford, in a nutshell," she said.

From BBC • Nov. 14, 2025

“Nonstop,” Cole said, describing Banana Ball in a nutshell.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2025

What are the main revelations in a nutshell?

From BBC • Mar. 25, 2025

The answer in a nutshell: • If a that or a who comes before the verb, it’s plural: He’s one of the authors who say it best.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

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.