brisk
Americanadjective
verb (used with or without object)
adjective
-
lively and quick; vigorous
a brisk walk
trade was brisk
-
invigorating or sharp
brisk weather
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of brisk
First recorded in 1580–90; of uncertain origin
Explanation
Brisk is one of those delightful words that sounds like what it means: quick, lively, bracing, and refreshing. There's nothing like a brisk walk in the morning to get the blood flowing and the spirit ready for the day. Anything brisk is happening quickly but not too fast. Probably taken from the French brusque, which also means "quick," but in a more negative way, brisk can be used to describe not only physical actions but also more conceptual notions, such as brisk business around the holidays or brisk interactions at a speed-dating event. The soft-drink called Brisk must be called that for a good reason. Perhaps it picks you up!
Vocabulary lists containing brisk
100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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Words to Know Before You Defrost the Bird
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"The Drummer Boy of Shiloh"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He devoted more attention to the AI build-out than any other feature of the economy, highlighting brisk investment spending that he said appears to be accelerating.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
High pressure will remain centred to the north of the UK and the brisk east to north-easterly winds will gradually lessen with warmer air from northern France pushing back into southern England.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Yet to listen to the brisk and sportive “Foreign Tongues” is to hear a band clearly going on instinct rather than overthinking the music à la any number of veteran acts in legacy-maintenance mode.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Wealthy buyers who are immune to the challenges of today’s high-interest-rate environment are driving brisk sales of luxury homes.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
Dale walked off at a brisk pace, glancing around as if to ensure nobody was spying, and soon passed out of view.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
While heatwave conditions will continue across many parts of England and Wales through this coming week, a brisker wind means temperatures have dropped a degree or two relative to recent days.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
From time to time I’ll make an exception and settle into a relative page-turner: nothing with cliffhangers or lots of hand-to-hand combat, mind you, but with a brisker narrative pace.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
“Fan reaction has been positive to the brisker pace with more action. And players have made a great adjustment to the changes.”
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 3, 2023
As a northeasterner, I've long associated back to school with the cooler, brisker days of pumpkin spice season.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2022
One morning there was a different smell in the air, and the ship was moving oddly, with a brisker rocking from side to side instead of the plunging and soaring.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
Mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly accelerated in August to the briskest pace since April and firms reported input price pressures eased to the lowest since late 2020.
From Reuters ● Aug. 18, 2022
The planets are putting on an amazing celestial show nightly, and many regions of the country are about to host some of the briskest bird traffic of the year.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 21, 2021
Ms. Mearns, never rushed by this, creates marvelous dynamic variety within it, often finding time to phrase with seeming slowness, while rising to its briskest passages as if riding the full power of a wave.
From New York Times ● Sep. 23, 2015
British factories followed Asia's lead, increasing activity at the fastest rate in seven months while creating new jobs in at the briskest pace in more than three years.
From Reuters ● Jul. 1, 2014
It was one of the briskest times of day, and the short street and the steps of the building were alive with young people of both sexes.
From Maurice Guest by Richardson, Henry Handel
Amelia and me took a turn by ourselves, and when we got back to Teesdale's farm, there was Jenny, wonderfully brisked up, talking and laughing away with young Wheeler, whose father keeps the post-office.
From In Homespun by Nesbit, E. (Edith)
She was feeling quite brisked up by her interview with Shaw, and her indignation supplied her with strength.
From Good Luck by Meade, L. T.
House of Commons, Monday, August 7.—House brisked up to-day on approaching Report Stage Home-Rule Bill; over three hundred Members present, including Joseph, fresh from Birmingham; on whole, a melancholy gathering.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 105, August 19th 1893 by Various
"When I was in Edinburgh," I replied, "I had not the spirit of a pooked hen, but holding the banner at Sanquhar hath wondrously brisked me."
From The Men of the Moss-Hags Being a history of adventure taken from the papers of William Gordon of Earlstoun in Galloway by Crockett, S. R. (Samuel Rutherford)
Bakers' shops were piled high with WEIHNACHTSSTOLLEN, which were a special mark of the festival: cakes shaped like torpedoes, whose sugared, almonded coats brisked brown and tempting.
From Maurice Guest by Richardson, Henry Handel
As I write the breeze is brisking up, doors are beginning to slam: and shutters; a strong draught sweeps round the balcony; it looks doubtful for to-morrow.
From Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson — Volume 2 by Stevenson, Robert Louis
As I write, the breeze is brisking up, doors are beginning to slam, and shutters; a strong draught sweeps round the balcony; it looks doubtful for to-morrow.
From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 24 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis
“He wandered off by himself,” Major Coote answered, brisking up a little.
From Athelstane Ford by Upward, Allen
"Such a charming musical evening—such a treat!" said she, brisking up, and quite unaware of what had been passing round her the last two hours.
From Bluebell A Novel by Huddleston, Mrs. George Croft
She was relieved to see that the oddly assorted men and women about her were brisking up, and beginning to talk, even to laugh, with one another.
From From out the Vasty Deep by Lowndes, Marie Belloc
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
