briefly

adverb

brief·​ly ˈbrē-flē 

1

a

: in a brief way

briefly mentioned

b

: in brief

the food, briefly, was awful

2

: for a short time

briefly married

Synonyms of briefly

• concisely
• shortly

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

After Abbosbek Fayzullaev won the ball back for Uzbekistan near the top of the box, Azizjon Ganiev unleashed an incredible strike that briefly made this a 2-1 game. — Monica Alba, NBC news, 24 June 2026

After Winfield's driver and a passenger in the sedan briefly interacted, police said someone in the sedan opened fire and shot Winfield in the eye. — Alexandra Simon, CBS News, 24 June 2026

For Sacramento, that means another afternoon with temps briefly in the low to mid-90s before a decent Delta breeze kicks in. — Sean MacAday, Sacbee.com, 24 June 2026

On Monday, June 22, the temperatures were so high that fans were briefly turned away from the FIFA Fan Festival in Bayfront Park. — Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 24 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for briefly

• chiefly