From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishin a wordin a wordCLEAR/EASY TO UNDERSTANDused before giving a very simple answer or explanation We are, in a word, busy. Ridiculously busy. → word
Examples from the Corpus
in a word• Every language abounds in words for pseudo-entities.• Cotey -- real slow and in words of one syllable -- and then diagram them in stick figures with Crayolas.• Everyone I talked with talks goals in numbers as well as in words, from the bottom to the top.• I didn't say so, because the idea was too unpleasant to be clothed in words and made visible.• I love you so much that I just can't express it in words.• Pop, in a word, is fascination versus meaning.• "Did you have a good vacation?" "In a word, no."• What happened was, in a word, theft.• The band were, in a word, sloppy. 