Standard Lemma guide

synopsis

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /sɪˈnɒpsɪs/
  • US: /sɪˈnɑpsɪs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S IH0 N AA1 P S IH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A brief summary of the major points of a written work, either as prose or as a table; an abridgment or condensation of a work.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: communications, journalism, literature, media, publishing, writing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: abridgment, abstract, conspectus, outline, overview, summary

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A reference work containing brief articles that taken together give an overview of an entire field.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A prayer book for use by the laity of the church.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: Christianity

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a sketchy summary of the main points of an argument or theory

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: outline, abstract, precis

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: summary, sum-up

Narrower terms: brief, apercu, epitome

History

Etymology

From Late Latin synopsis, itself from Ancient Greek σύνοψις (súnopsis), from σύν (sún, “with or whole”) + ὄψις (ópsis, “view”) meaning whole view.

Across languages

Translations

83 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: sinopsis — brief summary
  • Albanian: konspekt — brief summary
  • Arabic: مُلَخَّص (mulaḵḵaṣ) — brief summary
  • Belarusian: агля́д (ahljád) — brief summary
  • Belarusian: рэзюмэ́ (rezjumé) — brief summary
  • Bulgarian: обзо́р (obzór) — brief summary
  • Bulgarian: резюме́ (rezjumé) — brief summary
  • Catalan: sinopsi — brief summary
  • Chinese Mandarin: 概要 (gàiyào) — brief summary
  • Chinese Mandarin: 提要 (tíyào) — brief summary
  • Chinese Mandarin: 摘要 (zhāiyào) — brief summary
  • Czech: přehled — brief summary
  • Czech: synopse — brief summary
  • Danish: synopse — brief summary
  • Danish: synopsis — brief summary
  • Dutch: samenvatting — brief summary
  • Dutch: synopsis — brief summary
  • Esperanto: resumo — brief summary
  • Esperanto: sinoptiko — brief summary
  • Estonian: kokkuvõte — brief summary
  • Finnish: tiivistelmä — brief summary
  • Finnish: yhteenveto — brief summary
  • Finnish: synopsis — brief summary
  • French: abrégé — brief summary
  • French: précis — brief summary
  • French: résumé — brief summary
  • Galician: resumo — brief summary
  • Galician: sinopse — brief summary
  • Georgian: მიმოხილვა (mimoxilva) — brief summary
  • German: Synopse — brief summary
  • German: Übersicht — brief summary
  • German: Zusammenfassung — brief summary
  • Greek: σύνοψη (sýnopsi) — brief summary
  • Greek: περίληψη (perílipsi) — brief summary
  • Ancient Greek: σύνοψις (súnopsis) — brief summary
  • Hebrew: תַּקְצִיר (taktsír) — brief summary
  • Hindi: सार (sār) — brief summary
  • Hungarian: összefoglalás — brief summary
  • Hungarian: összegzés — brief summary
  • Hungarian: áttekintés — brief summary
  • Hungarian: összefoglaló — brief summary
  • Indonesian: sinopsis — brief summary
  • Indonesian: sari kata — brief summary
  • Irish: achoimre — brief summary
  • Irish: achoimriú — brief summary
  • Italian: sinossi — brief summary
  • Japanese: 大意 (taii) — brief summary
  • Japanese: 梗概 (kōgai) — brief summary
  • Japanese: 概要 (gaiyō) — brief summary
  • Japanese: あらすじ (arasuji) — brief summary
  • Korean: 대위 (daewi) — brief summary
  • Korean: 경개 (gyeonggae) — brief summary
  • Korean: 개요 (gaeyo) — brief summary
  • Māori: whakarāpopoto — brief summary
  • Polish: streszczenie — brief summary
  • Portuguese: resumo — brief summary
  • Portuguese: sinopse — brief summary
  • Romanian: sinopsis — brief summary
  • Russian: кра́ткое описа́ние (krátkoje opisánije) — brief summary
  • Russian: кра́ткий обзо́р (krátkij obzór) — brief summary
  • Russian: сино́псис (sinópsis) — brief summary
  • Russian: конспе́кт (konspékt) — brief summary
  • Russian: обозре́ние (obozrénije) — brief summary
  • Russian: резюме́ (rezjumɛ́) — brief summary
  • Scottish Gaelic: giorrachadh — brief summary
  • Serbo-Croatian: сино̀псис — brief summary
  • Serbo-Croatian: саже́так — brief summary
  • Serbo-Croatian: sinòpsis — brief summary
  • Serbo-Croatian: sažétak — brief summary
  • Slovak: prehľad — brief summary
  • Slovak: synopsa — brief summary
  • Spanish: resumen — brief summary
  • Spanish: sumario — brief summary
  • Spanish: sinopsis — brief summary
  • Swedish: sammanfattning — brief summary
  • Swedish: synopsis — brief summary
  • Swedish: sammandrag — brief summary
  • Turkish: özet — brief summary
  • Ukrainian: о́гляд (óhljad) — brief summary
  • Ukrainian: резюме́ (rezjumé) — brief summary
  • Ukrainian: сино́псис (synópsys) — brief summary
  • Vietnamese: tóm tắt — brief summary
  • Welsh: crynodeb — brief summary
Real reading context

synopsis in complete knowledge articles