1
as in concise
marked by the use of few words to convey much information or meaning
a brief but crucial admonition to keep quiet
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in short
not lasting for a considerable time
fortunately, the meeting was brief
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in flash
lasting only for a short time
a brief flash of light
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in summary
a short statement of the main points
a one-page brief of the intelligence report
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in mission
a specific task with which a person or group is charged
the soldiers' brief was to secure the village from enemy attacks
Synonyms & Similar Words
1
as in to inform
to give information to
the lieutenant briefed his superior officers on the state of the enemy's fortifications
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to summarize
to make into a short statement of the main points (as of a report)
his duties include briefing intelligence reports for the president
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of brief
Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 20 May 2026
For a brief period in the mid-aughts, Hayden Panettiere was omnipresent.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 20 May 2026
ArsTechnica, 11 May 2026
Singer Tate McRae, for one, chose a sheer Ludovic de Saint Sernin golden minidress that deliberately exposed the bra and briefs underneath.
—Christian Allaire, Vogue, 10 May 2026
Shane Harris, The Atlantic, 14 May 2026
As the current hantavirus outbreak unfolded, the CDC deployed teams to evacuate and quarantine Americans who may have been exposed, health officials briefed reporters and Bhattacharya went on a Fox News program to urge Americans not to worry.
—Ali Swenson, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for brief
Adjective
The only image scientists have of it is a blurry photo taken in 1989 by NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft during its brief fly-by of Neptune.
—Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 20 May 2026
For a brief period in the mid-aughts, Hayden Panettiere was omnipresent.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 20 May 2026
Noun
Cariello, who works for Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, was part of the outside legal team that defended Cox in its Supreme Court briefs.
—ArsTechnica, 11 May 2026
Singer Tate McRae, for one, chose a sheer Ludovic de Saint Sernin golden minidress that deliberately exposed the bra and briefs underneath.
—Christian Allaire, Vogue, 10 May 2026
Verb
Two people briefed on the activities said local officials in Puerto Rico have heard nothing more from ODNI since last year.
—Shane Harris, The Atlantic, 14 May 2026
As the current hantavirus outbreak unfolded, the CDC deployed teams to evacuate and quarantine Americans who may have been exposed, health officials briefed reporters and Bhattacharya went on a Fox News program to urge Americans not to worry.
—Ali Swenson, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for brief
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brief
Adjective
-
Mahan, 43, might have won the night for those who prefer clear and concise rhetoric.—
James Rainey,
Los Angeles Times,
6 May 2026
-
Emery was swift and concise with his words afterwards.—
Jacob Tanswell,
New York Times,
1 May 2026
Adjective
-
For a shorter jog or walk, also with stunning views of the bay, take the path around the back of the hotel on Brickell Bay Drive, then go down Brickell Ave and take a lap around Brickell Key island.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
19 May 2026
-
That disconnect is where many appointments fall short.—
Lauryn Higgins,
Flow Space,
18 May 2026
Adjective
-
The heaviest rain has shifted eastward, with the island of Molokai under a flash-flood warning on Sunday.—
Kyle Reiman,
ABC News,
22 Mar. 2026
-
Kansas City will go from springlike warmth to winter fast as a powerful storm sweeps through Sunday, bringing damaging winds, a rapid temperature plunge with flash-freeze risk, and a quick burst of snow that could cut visibility, according to the National Weather Service.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
14 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Word with Copilot drafts and summarizes documents; Teams with Copilot generates meeting summaries and captures action items; and Excel with Copilot handles data analysis useful for damages calculations and billing.—
AllBusiness,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2026
-
While other operators submitted detailed incident summaries to the US regulator, Tesla blacked out every narrative entirely, labeling them as confidential business information.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
16 May 2026
Noun
-
Despite opposition, DiZoglio’s mission to audit the Legislature moved a step closer when the SJC ordered Campbell to decide whether to represent DiZoglio before the court or to allow DiZoglio to hire outside counsel in the legal dispute.—
Peter Lucas,
Boston Herald,
18 May 2026
-
Researchers believe the engine could significantly reduce launch costs while increasing payload capacity for future space missions.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
18 May 2026
Verb
-
Instead, inform the bank of your plans now to avoid having your funds get locked into a less profitable account.—
Matt Richardson,
CBS News,
19 May 2026
-
We were informed pretty quickly when each issue occurred.—
Tanya Lewis,
Scientific American,
19 May 2026
Verb
-
Notion reached $500 million in annual recurring revenue in 2025, and growth has accelerated every month since May when the company introduced AI agents to search through files or summarize meetings.—
Ellen Sheng,
CNBC,
19 May 2026
-
Researchers used the Amazon reviews of a handful of electronic products, which were then summarized by several large language models (LLMs), including those based on Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT.—
Roy Stephen Canivel,
Footwear News,
19 May 2026
Adjective
-
Rami feared the worst, but head coach Didier Deschamps reasoned that there was little to gain from laying down the law when the mood in the camp was so positive and elected to forgive him.—
Tom Williams,
New York Times,
17 May 2026
-
Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement are alarmed by the speed of the rollbacks, noting that protections won through generations of sacrifice have been weakened in little more than a decade.—
Kim Chandler,
Chicago Tribune,
16 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Brief.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brief. Accessed 24 May. 2026.
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