Gist — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work

the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/ɡwˈɑːɡjuːˌæntʃ/

🇬🇧British English

/dʒˈɪst/

🇮🇳Indian English

/dʒˈɪst/

1 syllable Say it as /ɡwˈɑːɡjuːˌæntʃ/.

Examples

the gist of the prosecutor's argument
the heart and soul of the Republican Party
the nub of the story

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

essence burden heart substance nitty-gritty kernel marrow meat nub heart and soul sum centre pith inwardness center core effect

Parts of Speech

noun	the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work
noun	the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience “the gist of the prosecutor's argument”

Word Forms

central	adjective	serving as an essential component
essential	adjective	of the greatest importance
meaty	adjective	being on topic and prompting thought
pithy	adjective	concise and full of meaning; ; - Hervey Allen
summate	verb	form or constitute a cumulative effect

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

Kern

die zentrale Bedeutung oder das zentrale Thema einer Rede oder eines literarischen Werks

🇫🇷French

essentiel

le sens ou le thème central d'un discours ou d'une œuvre littéraire

🇪🇸Spanish

esencia

El significado o tema central de un discurso u obra literaria.

🇮🇹Italian

sostanza

il significato o il tema centrale di un discorso o di un'opera letteraria

🇳🇱Dutch

kern

de centrale betekenis of het centrale thema van een toespraak of literair werk

🇵🇹Portuguese

essência

o significado central ou tema de um discurso ou obra literária

🇷🇺Russian

суть

центральный смысл или тема речи или литературного произведения

India

🇮🇳Hindi

सार

किसी भाषण या साहित्यिक कार्य का केंद्रीय अर्थ या विषय

🇧🇩Bengali

সারাংশ

একটি বক্তৃতা বা সাহিত্যিক কাজের কেন্দ্রীয় অর্থ বা থিম

🇮🇳Tamil

சாராம்சம்

ஒரு பேச்சு அல்லது இலக்கியப் படைப்பின் மையப் பொருள் அல்லது தீம்

🇮🇳Telugu

సారాంశం

ప్రసంగం లేదా సాహిత్య రచన యొక్క ప్రధాన అర్థం లేదా థీమ్

🇮🇳Marathi

सारांश

भाषण किंवा साहित्यिक कार्याचा मध्यवर्ती अर्थ किंवा थीम

🇮🇳Gujarati

ભાવાર્થ

ભાષણ અથવા સાહિત્યિક કાર્યનો કેન્દ્રિય અર્થ અથવા થીમ

🇮🇳Kannada

ಸಾರಾಂಶ

ಭಾಷಣ ಅಥವಾ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಕೃತಿಯ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಅರ್ಥ ಅಥವಾ ವಿಷಯ

🇮🇳Malayalam

സാരം

ഒരു പ്രസംഗത്തിൻ്റെയോ സാഹിത്യകൃതിയുടെയോ കേന്ദ്ര അർത്ഥം അല്ലെങ്കിൽ തീം

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਸੰਖੇਪ

ਕਿਸੇ ਭਾਸ਼ਣ ਜਾਂ ਸਾਹਿਤਕ ਕੰਮ ਦਾ ਕੇਂਦਰੀ ਅਰਥ ਜਾਂ ਥੀਮ

🇵🇰Urdu

خلاصہ

کسی تقریر یا ادبی کام کا مرکزی معنی یا تھیم

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

要旨

演讲或文学作品的中心意义或主题

🇯🇵Japanese

要旨

スピーチや文学作品の中心的な意味やテーマ

🇰🇷Korean

요점

연설이나 문학 작품의 중심 의미나 주제

🇻🇳Vietnamese

ý chính

ý nghĩa hoặc chủ đề trung tâm của một bài phát biểu hoặc tác phẩm văn học

🇹🇭Thai

ส่วนสำคัญ

ความหมายกลางหรือแก่นของสุนทรพจน์หรืองานวรรณกรรม

🇮🇩Indonesian

inti

makna sentral atau tema pidato atau karya sastra

🇵🇭Filipino

diwa

ang sentral na kahulugan o tema ng isang talumpati o akdang pampanitikan

🇲🇾Malay

intipati

maksud atau tema pusat ucapan atau karya sastera

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

جوهر

المعنى المركزي أو الموضوع للخطاب أو العمل الأدبي

🇮🇷Persian

اصل مطلب

معنی یا موضوع اصلی یک گفتار یا اثر ادبی

🇹🇷Turkish

ana fikir

bir konuşmanın veya edebi eserin merkezi anlamı veya teması

🇮🇱Hebrew

תַמצִית

המשמעות או הנושא המרכזי של נאום או יצירה ספרותית

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'gist'?

The primary meaning of 'gist' is 'the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'gist' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'gist' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'gist' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'gist' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'gist' in your daily reading?

Very Often

Occasionally

Rarely

Never

Do you find 'gist' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

Extremely hard

In your opinion, does the word 'gist' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

Positive

Neutral

Gloomy

Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'gist' in regular conversations?

Kids (3-12)

Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'gist' in a professional email?

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Somewhat likely

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Never

Would you classify 'gist' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

Casual

Slang

Archaic

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