Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tl;dr

/ti ˌɛl di ˈɑɹ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.99 in modern English

Syllables: tl;-dr
IPA: /ti ˌɛl di ˈɑɹ/

5

Scrabble Score

4

Letters

2

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

phrase

Initialism of too long; didn't read (or sometimes too long; don't read).

Derogatory

phrase

Initialism of too long; didn't read (or sometimes too long; don't read).

noun

A summary; the gist, the long and short.

verb

To provide a short summary of (a text, an event, etc.); to summarize.

Transitive verb

verb

To provide a short summary of a text, an event, etc.; to summarize.

Intransitive verb

phrase

Alternative letter-case form of tl;dr.

noun

Alternative letter-case form of tl;dr.

verb

Alternative letter-case form of tl;dr.

Example Sentences

"tl;dr"
"How I got to be an atheist is a fairly long and winding story, so I'll give you the "tl;dr" version—I was finally honest about myself that "the gods" just "weren't there.""
"Incidentally, my absolutely favourite headline about the Duchess of Sussex's new coat of arms was: "Will Meghan Markle's new California-inspired coat of arms convince millennials to embrace traditional heraldry?" Tl;dr, no!"
"I know that was quite a long ramble, but the TL;DR is that I got fired."
"Extracts or overviews should be substituted as needed. But insofar as possible, the whole books should be read. First of all, because many thinkers simply cannot be tl;dr'd. Second of all, because wrestling with, and immersing yourself in, and just reading through whole books is part of the education."
"I'll tell you another thing that's ironic about the Vidal–Buckley [i.e., Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr.] debates. Those debates can be TLDR'd into one of them calling the other "queer" as a pejorative and then the other calls the other a "fascist.""

Etymology

The phrase is an initialism of too long; didn't read (or sometimes too long; don't read). The noun and verb are derived from the phrase.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ti ˌɛl di ˈɑɹ/
British English: /tiː ˌɛl diː ˈɑː/

Usage

Inflected Forms

tldr (alternative) tl/dr (alternative) tl dr (alternative) TLDNR (alternative) TL/DNR (alternative) TL-DNR (alternative) tl;drs (plural) tl;dr's (plural) tl;dr's (present, singular) tl;dr'ing (participle, present) tl;dr'ed (participle, past) tl;dr'ed (past)

Phrases

too long didn't read long story short wall of text cut to the chase get to the point

Frequently Paired Words

ai dr too long didn't read TL DL TLDL DW

Synonyms

BLUF summary abridgment abstract bottom line compendium conspectus digest epitome outline overview précis

Rhymes With

r ten-second car lift the bar orphan star -dar bête noire

Questions

How do you pronounce tl;dr?: The recorded pronunciation is /ti ˌɛl di ˈɑɹ/.
What does tl;dr mean?: Initialism of too long; didn't read (or sometimes too long; don't read).
Where does tl;dr come from?: The phrase is an initialism of too long; didn't read (or sometimes too long; don't read). The noun and verb are derived from the phrase.

How to pronounce tl;dr

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “tl;dr”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ti ˌɛl di ˈɑɹ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “tl;dr”.
Repeat and practice — Say “tl;dr” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.