Idiom
broad strokes
Meaning
Major features or key points; outline.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He explained the plan in broad strokes.”
“The architect described the new building in broad strokes before showing us the detailed blueprints.”
“The historian painted the era in broad strokes, focusing on major political shifts rather than the daily lives of ordinary citizens.”
Examples
simple
“He explained the plan in broad strokes.”
contextual
“The architect described the new building in broad strokes before showing us the detailed blueprints.”
complex
“The historian painted the era in broad strokes, focusing on major political shifts rather than the daily lives of ordinary citizens.”
Origin
Attested as an allusion to a manner of painting, in which a brush is used to apply pigment in wide, non-specific movements. The imagery suggests the initial stages of a composition where detail is sacrificed for the sake of the general outline.
Key words
Related idioms
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