as in outline
a short statement of the main points
many book reports choose to begin with a summary of the book
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in concise
marked by the use of few words to convey much information or meaning
obviously a one-volume encyclopedia can offer only a very summary account of the American Civil War
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of summary
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2026
Federal law already restricts the deployment of military and armed federal forces to polling places, the bill summary explained.
—
Paula Wethington,
CBS News,
19 June 2026
Charles Pellegrino,
Rolling Stone,
6 Aug. 2025
Human Rights Watch said M23’s efforts to consolidate control of Goma have involved possible war crimes, including the summary execution of civilians in February.
—
Michela Wrong,
NBC news,
6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for summary
Noun
In popular usage, a leader is whoever has the biggest office, the grandest title, or the most impressive LinkedIn summary.
—
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2026
Federal law already restricts the deployment of military and armed federal forces to polling places, the bill summary explained.
—
Paula Wethington,
CBS News,
19 June 2026
Adjective
The young man risked beatings that would end in summary execution for sneaking in extra food to prisoners who were supposed to be the empire’s work-and-starve-to-death slaves.
—
Charles Pellegrino,
Rolling Stone,
6 Aug. 2025
Human Rights Watch said M23’s efforts to consolidate control of Goma have involved possible war crimes, including the summary execution of civilians in February.
—
Michela Wrong,
NBC news,
6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for summary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for summary
Noun
-
The value of a writers’ room like this is that Grace wrote a great outline and then a great draft, but every single episode gets rewritten in the room multiple times.
-
Learn one new asterism or constellation each session — such as the faint outline of constellations like Virgo, Ophiuchus, Hercules and Corona Borealis — and repeat the process during your next stargazing session.
Adjective
-
Get concise answers to your questions.
-
After considering a visitor’s question for a few seconds, the AI avatar gave a concise ruling, with specific citations to the USGA rulebook.
Noun
-
Those learnings then inform the next wave of creator briefs.
-
After learning of the numerous dogs dropped off across the various services, Pickett went to Sit’s home in the suburbs of Orange County, according to the trial brief.
Noun
-
The painting is a mini summa of two key tendencies running through Shahn’s work: self-quotation and cheekiness.
-
Rabelais points out that there are oddities in the world that cannot fit into any classification scheme, more things in our heaven and earth than are dreamt of in either the medieval pretensions of the summa or the ambitious early modern bibliographic machines.
Noun
-
From California politics to safety concerns on Sacramento roads, here’s a quick digest of some of the top stories for June 23, 2026.
-
This is the online edition of The Wiretap newsletter, your weekly digest of cybersecurity, internet privacy and surveillance news.
Noun
-
That sum will sound shockingly low to anyone who has paid full price at a private college.
-
The push matters because of the zero sum nature of TV.
Noun
-
Wall Street firms comfortably penciled in $150 oil or worse, and then projected a slow decline due to depleted inventories.
-
Luxus actively trades inventory across premium resale marketplaces including Sotheby's, Farfetch, and 1stDibs, seeking to capitalize on pricing inefficiencies and market demand.
Noun
-
The synopsis says the seven-year ordeal included chronic pain, a life-saving organ amputation and multiple medical crises that left doctors unable to determine the cause of his condition.
-
Plot synopsis House of the Dragon attempts to condense and dramatize the conflicting accounts presented in Fire & Blood—stitched together from testimonies and court chronicles—into a single authoritative narrative.
Cite this Entry
“Summary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/summary. Accessed 27 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
