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Showing results for thumbnail sketch. Search instead for thumbnails displayed.
Synonyms

thumbnail sketch

Idioms  

  1. A brief outline or cursory description, as in Let me give you a thumbnail sketch of the situation. This idiom alludes to drawing a picture no larger than a thumbnail. [Mid-1800s]

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.

But if that thumbnail sketch makes “Lux” sound like homework, the songs themselves are immediate and visceral, and the singer’s impassioned delivery is an invitation to listen more closely.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 25, 2025

"It is very easy to draw a very bold thumbnail sketch of Margaret and you can make her a cliché," the Oscar-nominated actress says.

From BBC • Dec. 1, 2023

The cichlids of Lake Victoria are a thumbnail sketch of contemporary rapid species loss that occurs all over Earth and is caused by human activity.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Something of a thumbnail sketch, it has no catalog.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 28, 2021

But it’s worth including a thumbnail sketch, I think.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

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.