1
: keenly alert : lively
… a brisk old lady with no nonsense about her …—
Jean Stafford
Jean Stafford2
a
: pleasingly tangy
brisk tea
b
: fresh, invigorating
a brisk autumn day
3
: sharp in tone or manner
was very brisk on the phone
briskly
adverb
briskness
noun
brisked; brisking; brisks
: to make animated, energetic, or marked by much activity : to make brisk
: to become brisk
—usually used with up
business brisked up
Examples of brisk in a Sentence
Adjective
She answered the phone in a brisk voice.
They went for a brisk walk in the woods.
She walked at a brisk pace.
Business is brisk at the store.
There is a brisk market in old movie posters.
Recent Examples on the Web
ABC News, 16 Mar. 2026
He’s backed up by research that found climbing stairs for four minutes is roughly equivalent to about 10 minutes of brisk walking or 20 minutes of slower walking.
—Mike Stobbe, Chicago Tribune, 16 Mar. 2026
His visual storytelling is brisk and pops with joy.
—Heide Janssen, Oc Register, 15 Mar. 2026
Ian Cheney’s brisk but sprawling doc interrogates the origins of the dish, who invented it, how it got popularized, and the eponymous 19th-century military leader who may (or may not) have inspired it.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 12 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for brisk
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Adjective
He's backed up by research that found climbing stairs for four minutes is roughly equivalent to about 10 minutes of brisk walking or 20 minutes of slower walking.
—ABC News, 16 Mar. 2026
He’s backed up by research that found climbing stairs for four minutes is roughly equivalent to about 10 minutes of brisk walking or 20 minutes of slower walking.
—Mike Stobbe, Chicago Tribune, 16 Mar. 2026
His visual storytelling is brisk and pops with joy.
—Heide Janssen, Oc Register, 15 Mar. 2026
Ian Cheney’s brisk but sprawling doc interrogates the origins of the dish, who invented it, how it got popularized, and the eponymous 19th-century military leader who may (or may not) have inspired it.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 12 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for brisk
Cite this Entry
“Brisk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brisk. Accessed 20 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
