verb
Other Word Forms
- summarist noun
- summarizable adjective
- summarization noun
- summarizer noun
- unsummarizable adjective
- unsummarized adjective
- well-summarized adjective
Etymology
Origin of summarize
Explanation
To summarize something, only include the important stuff. If your teacher asks you to summarize several events from the Civil War, she wants the important facts, not every single detail you can find. When you summarize something, you write or tell the general idea and only the most important points. It's a skill we often use in school or at work, but even in our personal lives, we summarize: like when a friend asks what the book you're reading is about, or someone wants to know about your recent vacation. You don't tell them every single detail, talking yourself to exhaustion. Instead, you summarize — describing just the key events that "sum up" the experience.
Vocabulary lists containing summarize
The SAT: Language of the Test, List 1
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PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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The Language of Standardized Tests, List 1
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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.
It can listen for and summarize relevant conversations from intercepts.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 7, 2026
To summarize overall exposure, the researchers developed PFAS-omics burden scores using item response theory methods.
From Science Daily • Feb. 23, 2026
“Each time samurai would commit the ritual suicide of seppuku, they would first read the death poem they had prepared in order to summarize their life and make sense of it,” Murakami said.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026
This means that consumers can then use that data to summarize their medical history, explain test results and identify patterns in their own health and wellness practices.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 21, 2026
We get to school in time for the last three classes, since there are only ten minutes allotted for teachers to summarize their lessons.
From "Amina's Voice" by Hena Khan
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.
