Detail Meaning
/ˈdiː.teɪl/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA part small enough to escape casual notice.
nounA profusion of details.
Sentence Examples
The radio broadcast the news in detail.
Would you explain it in more detail?
An expedition planned down to the last detail
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
Every tiny ____ of the mural was painted with remarkable precision.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The radio broadcast the news in ____.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Middle French détail, from Old French detail, from detaillier, from de- + taillier (“to cut”). Compare typologically Bulgarian подробност (podrobnost), Czech podrobnost, Russian подро́бность (podróbnostʹ) (akin to дроби́ть (drobítʹ)).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements."
— 2013 July 19, Timothy Garton Ash, “Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 18:
"Attention to detail was said to be one of the secrets of Gerrard's success as a player."
— 2018 May 4, Tom English, “Steven Gerrard: A 'seriously clever or recklessly stupid' Rangers appointment”, in BBC Sport:
"Frequently members of the small police detail dispatched to the scene joined in."
— 2022, Gary Gerstle, chapter 7, in The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order […] , New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, Part II. The Neoliberal Order, 1970–2020:
"WikiLeaks did not cause these uprisings but it certainly informed them. The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected, but could not prove, and would cite as they took to the streets. They also exposed the blatant discrepancy between the west's professed values and actual foreign policies."
— 2013 June 7, Gary Younge, “Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 18:
""I could never persuade myself to confide in him that event which was so often present to my recollection, but which I feared the detail to another would only impress more deeply.""
— 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter 6, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Every tiny ____ of the mural was painted with remarkable precision.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The radio broadcast the news in ____.