Synonyms

in a nutshell

Idioms

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

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in a nutshell

But this sorry idea is British industrial decline in a nutshell.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

The summit "in a nutshell, will be an opportunity to emphasise that Europe's security is a 360-degree challenge", said a senior EU official.

From Barron's ● May 4, 2026

"Basically, this man in a nutshell, he lied, he deceived, he out-manoeuvred medical staff in particular, on the ward and in the community. He wasn't honest," he said.

From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026

So in a nutshell it’s a very affordable rent.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 29, 2026

Gogol’s life, in a nutshell, was a steady decline into madness.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

in a nutshell

Example Sentences

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