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
Jesse Pines, Forbes.com, 20 June 2026
Maddie’s Secret by John Early is doing brisk business at the IFC Center as screenings fill up for opening weekend of the Magnolia Pictures’ comedy.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 19 June 2026
Even so, her spiral downward to near death before ending up in treatment is ridiculously, gloriously brisk.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 19 June 2026
Though editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis (a Yorgos Lanthimos regular) cuts the film with brisk concision, there’s also a welcome temporal elasticity here — the sense that life can change in the blink of an eye, but also stall for undefined passages.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 19 June 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
Encourage Dad To Move More Every Day Just 30 minutes a day of moderate activity, for example a brisk walk, a bike ride, shooting hoops with the kids, is one of the strongest predictors of a longer life.
—Jesse Pines, Forbes.com, 20 June 2026
Maddie’s Secret by John Early is doing brisk business at the IFC Center as screenings fill up for opening weekend of the Magnolia Pictures’ comedy.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 19 June 2026
Even so, her spiral downward to near death before ending up in treatment is ridiculously, gloriously brisk.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 19 June 2026
Though editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis (a Yorgos Lanthimos regular) cuts the film with brisk concision, there’s also a welcome temporal elasticity here — the sense that life can change in the blink of an eye, but also stall for undefined passages.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 19 June 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 23 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
