Word.ws English Dictionary

broad strokes

broad strokes noun: major features or key points; outline.

Noun

broad strokes pl (plural only)

  1. (idiomatic, plural, plural-only) Major features or key points; outline.
    • The President made his proposals in broad strokes, and the details remain to be worked out.1989 July 7, Serge Schmemann, “Vienna Talks: Complex Array of Arms Issues Plus an East of Many Voices”, in New York Times, retrieved 18 Oct 2011
    • His plan, in broad strokes, was to outfit a small fleet of cars with a number of miniature directional microphones.2002, Howard Blum, Gangland: How the FBI Broke the Mob, →ISBN, page 12
  2. (especially, idiomatic, plural, plural-only) Developments, movements, or descriptions presented in a bold or sweeping manner, without intricacy, adornment, or subtlety.
    • Maurice hastily climbed the fence, and while he was thus occupied Mr. Samuel Williams received a great enlightenment. With startling rapidity Penrod, standing just outside the storeroom door, extended his arm within the room, deposited the licorice water upon the counter of the drug store, seized...1914, Booth Tarkington, chapter 14, in Penrod
    • While the movie unfolds in broad strokes, Ms. MacLaine treats this character with exquisite sensitivity and without condescension.2000 December 1, Julie Salamon, “Television Review: On a New Limb With Shirley MacLaine”, in New York Times, retrieved 18 Oct 2011

Examples of broad strokes in a sentence

  • Senators, after meeting for nine months behind closed doors, is nearing an agreement on the broad strokes of a health-care-reform bill.2009 March 13, Jay Newton-Small, “Bipartisan Senate Group Makes Health-Care Progress”, in Time:
  • So sketch with broad strokes, dial up the imagery on a few main points, and leave room for a reader to play a part in your novel.2010, James V. Smith, You Can Write a Novel, 2nd edition, →ISBN, page 55:

Forms of broad strokes

alternative formwide brush strokes

Origin of broad strokes

An allusion to a manner of painting.

Questions about broad strokes

What does broad strokes mean?
Broad strokes means major features or key points; outline.
How do you use broad strokes in a sentence?
Senators, after meeting for nine months behind closed doors, is nearing an agreement on the broad strokes of a health-care-reform bill.
What part of speech is broad strokes?
Broad strokes is a noun.

Words near broad strokes in the dictionary

  1. broad seal
  2. broad seals
  3. broad shoulders
  4. Broad Street
  5. Broad Street Bullies
  6. broad strokes
  7. broad sword
  8. broad swords
  9. broad tape
  10. Broad Town
  11. broad transcription

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: broad strokes (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-broad strokes.ogg.

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