abridged

American  

[uh-brijd] / əˈbrɪdʒd /

adjective

1. (of a book, document, presentation, etc.) shortened by omitting less important parts while retaining the basic content.

   I didn't realize it was an abridged audiobook until I was surprised by how fast it was over.

2. reduced or lessened in duration, scope, authority, etc.; diminished or curtailed.

   Any time anyone's opportunity to vote is hampered, we need to do whatever we can to see that those abridged rights are faced, challenged, and changed.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of abridge.

Etymology

Origin of abridged

abridge ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

The Collegiate—an abridged, more manageable version of the company’s gargantuan International edition—was introduced in 1898 and had been revised roughly every decade thereafter.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025

This followed a 13-part, 13-hour series—Vietnam: A Television History—that premiered on PBS over 30 years earlier, in 1983, before being rebroadcast in abridged form on public television’s American Experience in 1997.

From Slate • Apr. 30, 2025

Dunthorne had access to the German original, about 1,800 typewritten pages, as well as to a translated, abridged version distributed to family members.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2025

I would love to hear an abridged history of soy/tamari, as well as what led to your family originally becoming involved in the practice?

From Salon • Sep. 10, 2024

Somewhere deep in the Heart of Stone, I relaxed, glad that the master’s irritation was based on Hemme’s angrily abridged version of the truth.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

Related Words

• deficient
• fragmentary
• inadequate
• insufficient
• lacking
• partial
• sketchy