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

Parts of the East Coast, including New York, Philadelphia, and Atlantic City, will briefly climb above freezing later today. —Alexandra Banner, CNN Money, 24 Feb. 2026

Alan Cumming briefly paused Sunday's BAFTA Film Awards on two separate occasions to address the expletives and racial slur that Tourette's syndrome advocate John Davidson yelled during the telecast, according to reports. —Pamela Avila, USA Today, 23 Feb. 2026

During the ceremony, BAFTA host Alan Cumming briefly halted proceedings to acknowledge Davidson’s tics. —Zac Ntim, Deadline, 23 Feb. 2026

The wind was a fluky northwesterly, gusty at the starting gun, such that a couple of blades levitated briefly, as if launching into flight. —Ben McGrath, New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

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

Rhymes for briefly

• chiefly