一言以蔽之 yī yán yǐ bì zhī

in short; in a word; to sum up

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. one word says it all (idiom, from Analects); to cut a long story short
  2. 2. in a nutshell

Characters

Character Meaning
一 yī HSK 1
one; 1; single
言 yán HSK 4
to say; to talk; speech
以 yǐ HSK 2
to use; by means of; according to
蔽 bì HSK 6
to cover; to shield; to conceal
之 zhī HSK 4
(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的de); it