Dictionary

briefly en · ADV

Pronunciation

• /ˈbɹiːfli/
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English breefly, breffly, brevely, brevelike, breveliche, equivalent to brief + -ly.

Meanings

1. In a brief manner, summarily.
   • He covered the subject briefly in his book.
2. For a brief period.
   • Instead, ddakji was played for dramatic effect earlier in the season — pitting two men who had forged a sweet bond against each other, making one of them briefly believe he’d been eliminated by his friend. 2023 December 7, Maya Salam, “‘Squid Game: The Challenge’: Hits, Misses and the Bizarre Ending”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 08 Dec 2023:
   • He only worked here briefly.
3. To be brief, in short.
   • Briefly, I am not happy about what happened, but no one will be losing their job.

Forms

Synonyms

in short (in a brief manner) · transiently · summarily · concisely (in a brief manner) · in a word (in a brief manner) · temporarily · in summarization (in a brief manner) · to sum up (in a brief manner) · fleetingly (for a brief period)

Translations (32)

de kurz (in a brief manner) · ca breument (in a brief manner) · nl kortweg (in a brief manner) · it concisamente (in a brief manner) · ru вкра́тце (in a brief manner) · ru кра́тко (in a brief manner) · eo mallonge (in a brief manner) · dsb krotko (in a brief manner) · es brevemente (in a brief manner) · gl brevemente (in a brief manner) · as চুটিকে (in a brief manner) · fi lyhyesti (in a brief manner) · hu rövid ideig (for a brief period) · ro pe scurt (in a brief manner) · ar بِاِخْتِصَار (in a brief manner) · fr concisément (in a brief manner) · la brevī (in a brief manner) · as চমুকে (in a brief manner) · pl pokrótce (in a brief manner) · as চমুকৈ (in a brief manner) · syc ܒܲܦ݂ܣܵܩܵܐ (in a brief manner) · bg накратко (in a brief manner) · it brevemente (in a brief manner) · ml ചുരുക്കത്തിൽ (in a brief manner) · fr brièvement (in a brief manner) · es concisamente (in a brief manner) · hu röviden (in a brief manner) · ur مُخْتَصَراً (in a brief manner) · ru ко́ротко (in a brief manner) · as চুটিকৈ (in a brief manner) · la astrictē (in a brief manner) · ml ചുരുക്കം (in a brief manner)