in a nutshell

English

The expression refers to the tidy, compact package.

Etymology

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).

Pronunciation

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Adverb

in a nutshell

  1. (idiomatic) In summary; briefly or simply.
    He had a lot to say, but his answer, in a nutshell, was no.
    • 2019 May 1, Daniel Taylor, The Guardian‎[1], archived from the original on 13 October 2026:
      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.
    • 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 I:
      The yarns of seamen have a direct simplicity, the whole meaning of which lies within the shell of a cracked nut.

Synonyms

Translations

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