Is describing something as 'detailed and concise' an oxymoron?

For example:

The instructions must be detailed and concise.


No, "detailed and concise" is not an oxymoron. Not any more than describing a crust as tender and flaky would be. Both are statements of balanced purposes, which together shape the desired result.

Detailed in context means "thoroughly describing all relevant parts."

Concise in context means "free of superfluous detail."

Hence, "detailed and concise" means "thoroughly describing all relevant parts without superfluous detail."


I think it is not an oxymoron; the phrase "detailed and concise" enforces an idea. In this case an oxymoron might be "detailed summary".


Compendious is a single word meaning "detailed and concise". If the latter is an oxymoron, then the former would be a single-word example of an oxymoron.


At first reading it does seem to be, but it could be taken to mean 'as concise as possible while covering all the details'.