summary
Americannoun
-
summaries
plural
adjective
-
brief and comprehensive; concise.
-
direct and prompt; unceremoniously fast.
to treat someone with summary dispatch.
-
(of legal proceedings, jurisdiction, etc.) conducted without, or exempt from, the various steps and delays of a formal trial.
noun
adjective
-
performed arbitrarily and quickly, without formality
a summary execution
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(of legal proceedings) short and free from the complexities and delays of a full trial
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the right a court has to adjudicate immediately upon some matter arising during its proceedings
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giving the gist or essence
Synonym Usage
Summary, brief, digest, synopsis are terms for a short version of a longer work. A summary is a brief statement or restatement of main points, especially as a conclusion to a work: a summary of a chapter. A brief is a detailed outline, by heads and subheads, of a discourse (usually legal) to be completed: a brief for an argument. A digest is an abridgment of an article, book, etc., or an organized arrangement of material under heads and titles: a digest of a popular novel; a digest of Roman law. A synopsis is usually a compressed statement of the plot of a novel, play, etc.: a synopsis of Hamlet.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of summary
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin summārium, equivalent to summ(a) “sum” + -ārium noun suffix; see sum, -ary
Explanation
A summary gives a short overview, or the main points, of something longer. She talked for days about the 800-page romantic novel, but her boyfriend's summary was "Girl meets boy, boy meets girl, boy rides horse into sunset, girl meets new boy. The end." Summary is a noun, and "summery" is an adjective, but they sound alike and both describe something short. A summer feels like a short piece of a long year, and a summary is a short statement about a longer piece. When a long speech or writing needs retelling in a short amount of time, a summary conveys the meaning in fewer words. Often a book cover has a summary of what's inside, and an introduction has a summary of the main points in a chapter.
Vocabulary lists containing summary
PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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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.
See Examples For:
Since then, the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Princess Diana, Kate Moss and Alexa Chung have helped further the style’s popularity, according to a summary on fashion publication the Zoe Report.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
He describes it in the video summary as “A short film about gay dating. In a world before Grindr!”
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget summary this year estimated that the top 1% of Californians paid about 45% of the state’s personal income taxes from 2002 through 2023.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
The summary is that over three years the average pay of the excluded player is key to what ends up in and outside the cap.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
His voice lilted as if he was in summary mode.
From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely
Evans said he did see brief maternity summaries - "usually a couple of paragraphs" - attached to each baby's neonatal notes.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Variety and Rolling Stone owner Penske Media sued Google in September on antitrust grounds, alleging that its AI summaries illegally use the publisher’s reporting and depress online traffic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
That’s a passive-aggressive approach that looks like this: sending the boss updates every 30 minutes, asking questions you already know the answer to and emailing summaries of every minor meeting or interaction.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
Those summaries typically present results in broad categories such as “excellent health” or “within normal limits,” rather than providing detailed underlying data.
From Salon ● May 31, 2026
Perhaps among the contents of the Encyclopaedia Galactica will be a set of summaries of such civilizations, the information enigmatic, tantalizing, evocative—even after we succeed in translating it.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
