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

One was born near my father’s hometown in Choctaw County, Alabama, and ended up in the Delta, just as my father briefly did. —Literary Hub, 14 Jan. 2026

Abarca is facing pending domestic battery charges in Kansas, along with related charges in Missouri, after an alleged domestic altercation with his ex-wife and missing persons reports briefly filed for both Abarca and the couple’s toddler son. —Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 13 Jan. 2026

Trains briefly reversed direction to minimize service impacts, and the scene was cleared within about 15 minutes. —Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 13 Jan. 2026

Our conversation gets briefly interrupted when Oppenheimer’s lead, Van Patten, playfully bumps shoulders with her. —Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 13 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

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

Rhymes for briefly

• chiefly