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

Farhadi spoke very briefly about his next film, reiterating it will be shot in his native language of Farsi. — Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 3 Oct. 2026

Clark briefly left the court with blood pouring from her mouth. — Jackson Thompson Outkick, FOXNews.com, 3 Oct. 2026

After being down briefly on the ice, Barkov immediately went to the team’s dressing room, walking under his own power but with a noticeable limp. — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 3 Oct. 2026

Golden State Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase briefly collapsed on the court during Friday’s playoff win over the Dallas Wings. — Matt Lavietes, NBC news, 3 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

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

Rhymes for briefly

• chiefly