Cliffs Notes Definition & Meaning

Definition

Etymology

Examples

Cliffs Notes American [klifs] / klɪfs / Trademark.

1. a series of pamphlets with summaries and basic analyses of works of literature, intended as study aids.

Etymology

Origin of Cliffs Notes

After Cliff Hillegass, founder of Cliffs Notes, Inc.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Those are eye-catching lowlights, Cliffs Notes for a concerning trend.

From Seattle Times

Doerr’s entertaining and intricate novel wasn’t one that called out for Cliffs Notes.

From New York Times

But for anyone who got an A-minus or lower in high school physics and longs for the Cliffs Notes version, here it is: Our universe is large, far larger than we can conceive of, and possibly part of a strangely behaved multiverse, and it all started from a point infinitesimally small that erupted in a bang indescribably big.

From Washington Post

“I would like to do digital programs, maybe 15 to 20 minutes on the website. Like Cliffs Notes,” Jaffe continued.

From Washington Post

“I sort of gave her the Cliffs Notes version, to give her some inspiration.”

From The Verge

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.