briefly

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adverb brief·ly \ ˈbrē-flē \

Definition of briefly

1 a :in a brief way

briefly mentioned

b :in brief

the food, briefly, was awful

2 :for a short time

briefly married

See briefly defined for English-language learners

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 of briefly from the Web

Sooner or later, and the later the better, the president’s wandering attention will flit, however briefly, to the subject of trade.

— george will, National Review, "Trump, the Novice Protectionist," 26 Aug. 2017
Supernovas happen when huge stars run out of fuel and collapse, creating an explosion that can briefly outshine their host galaxy.

— elizabeth howell, Scientific American, "Rare “Superluminous” Supernova Traced to “Heavy Metal” Galaxy," 2 Aug. 2017
Before signing with USC, Price was briefly committed to Georgia.

— jon hale, The Courier-Journal, "Analyst: USC Transfer E.J. Price has NFL potential for UK," 19 July 2017
According to Elamin, she was questioned extensively about her research and the political situation in Sudan, patted down in her chest and groin areas, and briefly handcuffed and taken to a 24-hour holding area—

— kristal brent zook, Essence.com, "How Donald Trump's Travel Ban Attempts Have Deeply Wounded Black Families And Individuals," 18 July 2017
Barber briefly thought about a return to the league a few years after leaving.

— drew champlin, AL.com, "Costa Rica vs. French Guiana live stream: Watch Gold Cup 2017 online," 14 July 2017
Inside the arc of total eclipse on that Monday afternoon, as the moon briefly covers the sun, Earth will go dark for two minutes or less of utter wonder.

— bruce henderson, charlotteobserver, "Solar eclipse is a hot ticket in the Carolinas. Here’s what you need to know.," 12 July 2017
Mr. Trump’s Instagram account briefly identified Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore as President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, Singapore news outlets reported.

— austin ramzy, New York Times, "Beijing Says U.S. Apologized for Confusing China With Taiwan," 10 July 2017
Tesla briefly offered Aero wheels for the Model S in 2013, but they were considered unattractive by many consumers and were quickly pulled from the market.

— tom randall, Bloomberg.com, "Tesla Rolls Out Its First Model 3, and It’s Elon’s," 10 July 2017

These 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.

First Known Use of briefly

13th century

briefly Synonyms

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

diffusely, long-windedly, verbosely, wordily

Related Words

aphoristically, sententiously; exactly, precisely; abruptly, bluffly, bluntly, brusquely; monosyllabically

Near Antonyms

redundantly, repetitiously

BRIEFLY Defined for English Language Learners

briefly

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adverb

Definition of briefly for English Language Learners

: in only a few words : in a brief way
: for a short period of time

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briefly

Definition of briefly

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briefly

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