Definition of in a word in English:

phrase

• Briefly.

  ‘Are there any real reasons to worry? In a word, plenty’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Even in prison bureaucracies, policies that admit no possible exception are, in a word, stupid.’
  • ‘They just want some peace and quiet to reflect, or to lose themselves in a good novel, poem or piece of fine music - in a word to think.’
  • ‘The back-to-back sets to follow are both, in a word, stellar.’
  • ‘It is complex; it is changing fast; it is, in a word, exciting.’
  • ‘She was out of time, out of tune, out of breath - in a word, terrible.’
  • ‘I thought she was, in a word, gorgeous, and I vowed to have that haircut, or die trying.’
  • ‘And the men in that part of the world are short, stocky and hairy - in a word, not very handsome.’
  • ‘Everyone has a right to do this, of course, but seeing so much division between students makes me, in a word, sad.’
  • ‘I like to think of listening to these three discs as an opportunity for true quality time with a true quality band: in a word, it's intimacy.’
  • ‘Likewise, the goal of capitalist corporations is to make the biggest return on investment possible, in a word, greed.’

  Synonyms

  to put it briefly, to be brief, briefly, in short, in a nutshell, succinctly, concisely, to come to the point, to cut a long story short, not to mince words, not to beat about the bush, not to put too fine a point on it

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