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

• compactly
• concisely
• crisply
• curtly
• elliptically
• laconically
• pithily
• shortly
• succinctly
• summarily
• tersely

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

Harris will briefly speak to journalists and plant a pomegranate tree on the grounds of the Vice President’s Residence in honor of those killed a year ago. —Morgan Phillips, Fox News, 7 Oct. 2024

In interviews with The New York Times and People magazine, the Oscar-winning actor recounted his experience contracting the virus and briefly having no pulse. —Rosa Rahimi, CNN, 7 Oct. 2024

The actress joined General Hospital in 2003 and starred in more than 2,200 episodes, with fellow soap star Lindsay Hartley briefly filling in while Monaco was on temporary leave in 2020, 2022 and 2024. —Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 6 Oct. 2024

Lindsay Hartley briefly filled in for Monaco in 2020, 2022 and 2024. —Andy Swift, TVLine, 6 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

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