in a nutshell

Idioms and Phrases

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

White’s warning is, in a nutshell: “It’s not for everyone.”

From Los Angeles Times

Trump ally and fellow Hitler-praiser Nick Fuentes illustrated this "childish kings" view of manhood in a nutshell in a recent tweet: "If Trump loses, blame women."

From Salon

Bases advanced, in a nutshell, are total bases: a single counts as one, a double as two, a triple as three and a home run as four.

From Los Angeles Times

“It is exceptionally difficult to convey complex, serious political statements in a nutshell, and we did our best.”

From BBC

The plan in a nutshell: Multiply and improve revenue streams to bolster farm balance sheets.

From New York Times

Related Words

• brusque
• concise
• cryptic
• curt
• elliptical
• incisive
• laconic
• pithy
• precise
• succinct
• trenchant