Meaning & use
summarized
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“summarized” is a form of “summarize”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
verbtransitive
Past form of summarize: gave the main points of something in a short form.
Grammar: Takes an object: she summarized the report.
Patterns
- summarize something for someone
- summarize something in something
She summarized the long report in three sentences.
He summarized the plot of the film for his friend.
The teacher summarized the lesson at the end of class.
Word forms
| base form | summarize |
|---|---|
| third person singular | summarizes |
| -ing form | summarizing |
Common combinations
- briefly summarized
- The findings were briefly summarized on the first page.
- summarized the main points
- He summarized the main points of the meeting.
- as summarized above
- As summarized above, the plan has three stages.
- summarized in a table
- The data is summarized in a table.
- neatly summarized
- Her argument was neatly summarized in one slide.
Synonyms and how they differ
- outlined
- Outlined suggests giving the main structure or plan, while summarized suggests shortening what already exists.
- recapped
- Recapped is informal and usually refers to repeating what was just said.
- condensed
- Condensed stresses making something shorter, whereas summarized stresses keeping the key ideas.
- paraphrased
- Paraphrased means restating in other words at similar length, not shortening.
Opposites
Word family
- summarize verb
- to give the main points
- summary noun
- a short account of main points
- summarizing noun
- the act of making a summary
- summarization noun
- the process of summarizing
- summarily adverb
- quickly and without ceremony
Commonly confused: summarized or summarily?
summarized vs summarily
Summarily means done quickly without the usual process, as in summarily fired, and is unrelated to making a summary.
Practice
The student ____ the chapter in a single paragraph.
Choose one answer.
The past tense is needed, so summarized fits. Summary is a noun and summarize and summarizes are present tense forms.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “summarized”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.