briefly

adverb

brief·​ly ˈbrē-flē How to pronounce briefly (audio)
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
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.
The gathering on The Rooftop at Pier 17 found Marshall briefly taking the stage to address his shouting Stans, thanking them for coming out. Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 7 Aug. 2025 When navigating through a DDI, drivers follow the signs, signals and pavement markings to be briefly shifted to the opposite side of the road, according to WisDOT. Liliana Fannin, jsonline.com, 7 Aug. 2025 When one state representative, Philip Cortez, briefly returned to Austin in late July before rejoining the other quorum-breakers out of state, then-House Speaker Dade Phelan signed a civil warrant for his arrest. Rachael Dziaba, ABC News, 6 Aug. 2025 The House members, Reps. Adriano Espaillat, Nydia Velazquez and Daniel Goldman, showed up at the notorious Sunset Park federal jail Wednesday morning, but were blocked at the door, then were briefly trapped between the iron gate in front of the jail and its entrance doors. John Annese, New York Daily News, 6 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for briefly

Word History

First Known Use

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of briefly was in the 13th century

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Cite this Entry

“Briefly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/briefly. Accessed 23 Aug. 2025.

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