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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In a nutshell: My son-in-law plays piano and doesn’t make much money.

From MarketWatch • May 4, 2026

In a nutshell, buy the big software ETF before earnings.

From Barron's • Jan. 21, 2026

In a nutshell it would see the demolition and rebuilding of the city's existing Arts centre, the refurbishment of the adjacent Town Hall and the linking of the two.

From BBC • Nov. 18, 2025

In a nutshell, his response to the hurricanes has been bizarre and unhelpful.

From Slate • Oct. 9, 2024

In a nutshell: Scientists believed that a human’s reaction time was immeasurably fast—infinite, as some scientists put it.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

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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