adj. 1
Concise, brief, or presented in a condensed form; presenting information in such a form.
Near-synonym: abstractive
adj. 2
Performed speedily, without formal ceremony, and (especially) without regard to legality.
Near-synonym: extrajudicial
n. 1
An abstract or a condensed presentation of the substance of a body of material.
make a summary of the events

Related words

Word family: summarily
Phrases: in summary executive summary management summary
Is a kind of: expedited expeditious gist

Forms

Plural: summaries → synopses, recaps, compendiums, abstracts…

Choose the right word

Summary, Abridgment, Analysis, Abstract or Digest?

A summary is the most condensed statement of results or conclusions. We may have an abridgment of a dictionary, but not an analysis, abstract, digest, or summary.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

concise Either one is fine, but the former is more concise.
cursory He gave the material a cursory reading.
succinct The epitaph engraved on the headstone was a meaningful, succinct poem.
terse He was always terse on the telephone.
extrajudicial The United States is conductive a series of extrajudicial killings by drone.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
summary		falling
concise		steady
cursory		steady
succinct		rising
terse		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: sum¹
4 letters: curt¹
5 letters: short¹, quick¹, brief¹, recap², terse¹, pithy²
6 letters: resume², digest², upshot², precis²
7 letters: compact², outline², concise², epitome⁴, cursory³, laconic³
8 letters: abstract², decisive³, synopsis³, succinct²
9 letters: condensed², summative
10 letters: compendium⁴, abridgment, conspectus
11 letters: abridgement³, compendious, abstractive
12 letters: abbreviation⁵
13 letters: extrajudicial
14 letters: recapitulation

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (recap² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: sommaire