brisk
Americanadjective
-
brisker,
comparative
-
briskest
superlative
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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"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:
Though small, the trial suggests that even people already diagnosed with Alzheimer’s might benefit from increased physical activity, including brisk walking.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026
Temperatures will fall much closer to the seasonal norm with brisk winds accentuating the colder feel around some eastern coasts and the chance of overnight frost in places.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
Even without the federal subsidies, the used EV market has been brisk — thanks largely to the spike in gas prices, as my colleague Caroline Petrow-Cohen has reported.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
Chow, 41, is a Cambridge-educated lawyer who represented herself at the trial, speaking at a brisk pace and responding to questions quickly.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
The rabbits were slow and hesitant and Chervil himself seemed unable to rise to his usual brisk manner.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
The show, the first in a five-part series, is considerably brisker than that.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
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
A brisker pace could tip this show from good to great.
From New York Times ● Oct. 14, 2022
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
No; instead of this, he was following the motions of his little schooner on the waters with the briskest and most unconcerned air in the world.
From The Pearl of Orr's Island A Story of the Coast of Maine by Harriet Beecher Stowe
So the sad days wore on, and the fell-side air had not yet brisked up Emmanuel's adopted daughter as his sister prophesied.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 17, No. 102, June, 1876 by Various
She brisked up with a kittenish purr when disturbed, and remarked that the Hengishire air was like champagne.
From Red Money by Fergus Hume
They brisked up when they heard this offer.
From Athelstane Ford by Allen Upward
"But this will not be the finish," said I; "the dogs are not howling," and at that old Betty brisked herself.
From The McBrides A Romance of Arran by John Sillars
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 Henry Handel Richardson
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 Robert Louis Stevenson
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 Marie Belloc Lowndes
“Oh rather,” he assented, brisking up at the prospect of a row.
From A Frontier Mystery by Bertram Mitford
The two friends entered The Hague, brisking up their pace and stepping gallantly abreast.
From The Blue Pavilions by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
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 Robert Louis Stevenson
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