一言以蔽之 yī yán yǐ bì zhī

DEFINITIONS

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

CHARACTERS

一 yī
HSK 1
one; a, an; alone
言 yán
HSK 4
words, speech; speak, say
以 yǐ
HSK 2
by means of; thereby, therefore; consider as; in order to
蔽 bì
HSK 6
cover, hide, conceal; shelter
之 zhī
HSK 4
marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to