gist

IPA/dʒɪst/
KK[dʒˈɪst]IPA/dʒɪst/

gist — 名詞

1. The essential idea that you take away from a conversation, piece of writing, or

1.名詞B2
釋義

要點；主旨

談話或文章的核心意思

The essential idea that you take away from a conversation, piece of writing, or discussion, as opposed to the supporting details.

例句

Hana read the abstract and understood the gist of the research paper.

Hana 閱讀了摘要，並理解了那篇研究論文的要點。

the gist of [something] — general pattern

The manager asked Wei to summarize the gist of the three-hour meeting.

主管請 Wei 總結那場長達三小時會議的要點。

summarize the gist — common verb collocation

同義詞
  • essence

    Slightly more formal; 'gist' is more conversational and suggests you have extracted the meaning from a longer source.

  • core

    Focuses on the central or most important part; 'gist' implies that surrounding details have been stripped away.

  • thrust

    Describes the main direction or argument; 'gist' emphasizes the overall meaning rather than the line of reasoning.

  • main point

    More literal and plain; 'gist' carries a slight sense of having grasped something from a complex whole.

反義詞
  • detail

    'Gist' is the big picture; 'detail' refers to the specific, often small pieces that make it up.

  • specifics

    The exact facts or particulars, which are deliberately omitted when giving the gist.

文法句型

the gist of something

用法筆記

Used almost exclusively in the structure 'the gist of something'. Common verbs paired with it include 'get', 'grasp', 'catch', 'understand', 'summarize', and 'explain'. The word is typically singular and does not take an article other than 'the'.

常見錯誤

❌I only had time to read the gist of the email' (when meaning 'summary').
✅I only had time to read the summary of the email.
💡'gist' is the core idea you extract from reading, not a written summary someone else prepared.

⚠️ "Give me the gist of what happened" — This is common and grammatically fine in everyday English. However, some learners overuse "gist" for any kind of short version. ✅ Use "gist" when talking about the essential meaning or main point you extract from something, not for a condensed retelling someone else prepared.