To extract and express the most important ideas from something complex.
Reach for it when praising concise synthesis that preserves the substance of a longer discussion
Mara distilled three hours of testimony into four fair questions.
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| professional |
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| formal | |
| literary |
everyday
boil down
Fits when an informal phrase should reduce complexity to basics
Careful Boil down can sound reductive when nuance and minority views must remain visible.
professional
condense
Fits when reducing length without losing necessary content
Careful Condense focuses on size and may preserve detail that obscures the central idea.
professional
Fits when repeated improvement removes weakness or impurity
Careful Refine improves the whole and does not necessarily shorten it.
professional
summarize
Fits when a shorter account should cover the main points
Careful A summary can remain comprehensive, while distilling selects the essential core.
professional
synthesize
Fits when several sources must be combined into a coherent whole
Careful Synthesize adds integration and can produce something broader than a distilled essence.
formal
extract
Fits when the relevant element is drawn out from surrounding material
Careful Extract may lift one passage unchanged instead of rewriting the core insight.
literary
crystallize
Fits when an idea becomes sharply clear and memorable
Careful Crystallize emphasizes clarity, not the selection and removal involved in distilling.
distill the essence
The editor distilled the essence of the proposal without erasing its tradeoffs.
distill into
She distilled the findings into a one-page guide for volunteers.
carefully distill
Analysts carefully distilled the interviews into themes and exceptions.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Vealhurl, Southern England accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 Updated
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