Word of the Day

: December 22, 2018

compendious

adjective kum-PEN-dee-us

What It Means

: marked by brief expression of a comprehensive matter : concise and comprehensive

compendious in Context

Noah Webster's style of defining for the first American dictionary was compendious.

"For the past few years his writing has been an elegant and compendious ongoing exploration of Britain's social history through its council estates." — Lynsey Hanley, The Guardian, 19 Apr. 2018

Did You Know?

Compendious is applied to things that are brief in statement or expression, but oftentimes the brevity is chock-full of meaning. Its synonyms run the gamut, giving us concise, terse, succinct, pithy, laconic, and summary. Concise simply suggests the removal of all that is superfluous or elaborative ("a concise description"). Terse implies pointed conciseness ("a terse reply"). Succinct implies the greatest possible compression ("a succinct letter of resignation"). Pithy adds the implication of richness of meaning or substance ("pithy one-liners"). Laconic implies brevity to the point of seeming rude or indifferent ("a laconic stranger"). Summary suggests the stating of main points with no elaboration ("a summary listing of the year's main events").