briefly
adverb
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Definition of briefly
1a : in a brief way briefly mentioned
b : in brief the food, briefly, was awful
2 : for a short time briefly married
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Synonyms & Antonyms for briefly
Synonyms
compactly, concisely, crisply, curtly, elliptically, laconically, pithily, shortly, succinctly, summarily, tersely
Antonyms
diffusely, long-windedly, verbosely, wordily
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Examples of briefly in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Elsewhere in the tropical Atlantic, the National Hurricane Center is monitoring the remnants of Beryl, which was briefly a hurricane last week. — Jason Samenow, Washington Post, "Chris strengthens into a hurricane while moving away from the North Carolina coast," 10 July 2018 Timmy Kinner, a 30-year-old homeless man who had briefly been a guest at the apartment complex where Ruya lived, has been charged with first-degree murder and several other felonies in connection with the attack. — Rebecca Boone, chicagotribune.com, "Refugee who fled violence mourns 3-year-old daughter slain at her birthday party in Idaho," 4 July 2018 Timmy Kinner, a 30-year-old homeless man who had briefly been a guest at the apartment complex where Ruya lived, has been charged with first-degree murder and several other felonies in connection with the attack. — BostonGlobe.com, "Refugee who fled violence mourns daughter slain in Idaho," 4 July 2018 Timmy Kinner, a 30-year-old homeless man who had briefly been a guest at the apartment complex where Ruya lived, has been charged with first-degree murder and several other felonies in connection with the attack. — Rebecca Boone, The Seattle Times, "Family friend says slain birthday girl was ‘mother’s shadow’," 3 July 2018 Becker and Fagen attended Bard College, where comedian Chevy Chase was briefly their drummer in an early version of the band. — Michael Heaton, cleveland.com, "Half of Steely Dan is better than none: Minister of Culture," 2 May 2018 Vielma was up briefly last month, going 0-for-3 in three games, but earned praise from manager Buck Showalter for his defense. — Eduardo A. Encina, baltimoresun.com, "Orioles activate Trumbo from DL, recall Vielma as Sardiñas goes on DL," 1 May 2018 My husband sometimes woke up briefly but was soon asleep again. — Jancee Dunn, Outside Online, "The Best Gadgets to Improve Your Sleep," 9 July 2018 After Churchill, Britain’s wartime leader, returned to power in 1951, Lord Carrington became parliamentary secretary of agriculture and served briefly as parliamentary secretary of defense. — Robert D. Mcfadden, BostonGlobe.com, "Lord Carrington, former UK foreign secretary, dies at 99," 11 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'briefly.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for briefly
briefly
adverb
English Language Learners Definition of briefly
: in only a few words : in a brief way
: for a short period of time
See the full definition for briefly in the English Language Learners Dictionary
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