1
a
: in a brief way
briefly mentioned
b
: in brief
the food, briefly, was awful
2
: for a short time
briefly married
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
Bell briefly replaced Nick Emmanwori — who appeared to injure his ankle before re-entering the game — and blitzed Mayfield on his only defensive snap.
—
Michael-Shawn Dugar, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2025
Elon Musk’s firms, including SpaceX, Tesla, and xAI, took his net worth briefly above $500 billion, making him — for a time — the world’s first half-trillionaire.
—Matthew Martin, semafor.com, 6 Oct. 2025
Lumumba briefly served as Congo’s Prime Minister; he was executed at age thirty-five by political rivals in collaboration with Belgian mercenaries.
—Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025
The pair briefly split in 2015 before announcing their second engagement in July 2016, tying the knot later that year in a private ceremony in San Diego.
—Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 6 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for briefly
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Michael-Shawn Dugar, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2025
Elon Musk’s firms, including SpaceX, Tesla, and xAI, took his net worth briefly above $500 billion, making him — for a time — the world’s first half-trillionaire.
—Matthew Martin, semafor.com, 6 Oct. 2025
Lumumba briefly served as Congo’s Prime Minister; he was executed at age thirty-five by political rivals in collaboration with Belgian mercenaries.
—Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025
The pair briefly split in 2015 before announcing their second engagement in July 2016, tying the knot later that year in a private ceremony in San Diego.
—Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 6 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for briefly
Cite this Entry
“Briefly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/briefly. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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