1
a
: in a brief way
briefly mentioned
b
: in brief
the food, briefly, was awful
2
: for a short time
briefly married
Examples of briefly in a Sentence
Several important issues are only briefly mentioned.
Please briefly describe your experience.
We briefly considered canceling the trip.
Recent Examples on the Web
The alligator attack, which was caught on police bodycam, only briefly slowed 40-year-old DUI suspect Victor Rivas down.
—
Sean Joseph Outkick, FOXNews.com, 10 June 2026
Hanbeck briefly touched on the art style, saying.
—George Yang, Space.com, 10 June 2026
Steyer, who briefly appeared to have a path forward if enough of the outstanding vote broke his way, trailed behind by less than 200,000 votes.
—Grace Hase, Mercury News, 9 June 2026
However, House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Wahlberg (R-MI) was briefly a no vote before flipping to yes.
—Hailey Bullis, The Washington Examiner, 9 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for briefly
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Sean Joseph Outkick, FOXNews.com, 10 June 2026
Hanbeck briefly touched on the art style, saying.
—George Yang, Space.com, 10 June 2026
Steyer, who briefly appeared to have a path forward if enough of the outstanding vote broke his way, trailed behind by less than 200,000 votes.
—Grace Hase, Mercury News, 9 June 2026
However, House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Wahlberg (R-MI) was briefly a no vote before flipping to yes.
—Hailey Bullis, The Washington Examiner, 9 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for briefly
Cite this Entry
“Briefly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/briefly. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
