Meanings
- idiomaticIn summary; briefly or simply.
He had a lot to say, but his answer, in a nutshell, was no.
2 more examples
Sadio Mané wasted a glorious chance in the first half and, late on, Mohamed Salah turned his shot against a post after a goal-line clearance had spun his way. That, in a nutshell, perhaps sums up the difference between Messi and the players on the next rung below – the ones who can be described as great footballers without necessarily being football greats.
2019 May 1, Daniel Taylor, The GuardianThe yarns of seamen have a direct simplicity, the whole meaning of which lies within the shell of a cracked nut.
1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part ISynonyms: at the end of the day, in short
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbIn summary; briefly or simply.
Origin
- New Latinin nuce
- Englishin a nutshell
Calque of New Latin in nuce, derived from an anecdote in Pliny the Elder, who ascribes to Cicero the claim that the whole Iliad was once written on parchment and enclosed within a nutshell (Naturalis Historia 7.21.85). Compare typologically Czech stručný, stručně (< struk).
More words from New Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan en resum
- en resumin summary
Chinese Mandarin 總而言之 /总而言之, 概括地說 /概括地说
- 總而言之 /总而言之 (zǒng'éryánzhī)in summary
- 概括地說 /概括地说 (gàikuò de shuō)in summary
Czech v kostce, stručně
- v kostcein summary
- stručněin summary
Danish i en nøddeskal
- i en nøddeskalin summary
Dutch in een notendop
- in een notendopin summary
Esperanto unuvorte
- unuvortein summary
Finnish pähkinänkuoressa, sanalla sanottuna
- pähkinänkuoressain summary
- sanalla sanottunain summary
- lyhyesti sanottunain summary
French en un mot, en résumé
- en un motin summary
- en résuméin summary
- en brefin summary
German kurzgesagt, mit einem Worte
- kurzgesagtin summary
- mit einem Wortein summary
- in einer Nussschalein summary
Greek εν συντομία, περιληπτικά
- εν συντομία (en syntomía)in summary
- περιληπτικά (periliptiká)in summary
- λακωνικά (lakoniká)in summary
- με λίγα λόγια (me líga lógia)in summary
Hindi संक्षेप में
- संक्षेप में (saṅkṣep mẽ)in summary
Hungarian dióhéjban
- dióhéjbanin summary
Icelandic í hnotskurn
- í hnotskurnin summary
Indonesian ringkasnya, singkatnya
- ringkasnyain summary
- singkatnyain summary
- singkat katain summary
Irish go hachomair, i mbeagán focal
- go hachomairin summary
- i mbeagán focalin summary
Italian in breve, in sostanza
- in brevein summary
- in sostanzain summary
- in poche parolein summary
Japanese 要するに, つまりは
- 要するに (yō suru ni)in summary
- つまりは (tsumariwa)in summary
Latin in nuce
- in nucein summary
Māori koia pū
- koia pūin summary
Norwegian Bokmål i et nøtteskall
- i et nøtteskallin summary
Polish w pigułce
- w pigułcein summary
Portuguese em poucas palavras
- em poucas palavrasin summary
Russian кра́тко, вкра́тце
- кра́тко (krátko)in summary
- вкра́тце (vkrátce)in summary
- в двух слова́х (v dvux slováx)in summary
- одни́м сло́вом (odním slóvom)in summary
- коро́че говоря́ (koróče govorjá)in summary
Spanish en resumen, en pocas palabras
- en resumenin summary
- en pocas palabrasin summary
- en resumidas cuentasin summary
- dicho rápido y malin summary
Swedish i ett nötskal, kort sagt
- i ett nötskalin summary
- kort sagtin summary
Thai โดยย่อ
- โดยย่อ (dooi-yɔ̂ɔ)in summary
Vietnamese tóm lại
- tóm lạiin summary
Cite this entry
in a nutshell. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20a%20nutshell
“in a nutshell.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20a%20nutshell. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in a nutshell,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20a%20nutshell.
Source: in a nutshell on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.