briefly

[breef-lee]

adverb

1. for a short duration.

   He stopped over briefly in Chicago.

2. in a few words.

   Let me explain briefly.

3. in a brief manner; quickly or brusquely.

   She nodded briefly and began to speak.

Word History and Origins

Origin of briefly¹

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; brief, -ly

Example Sentences

Bitcoin briefly fell below $100,000 last week before recovering, then dipped under that level again on Thursday.

Read more on MarketWatch

After one of his sketches, the actual Sid Caesar might ever so briefly, in a stammering voice, appear before a commercial break to say: “We’ll be right back.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The company’s market cap briefly slipped below the value of its bitcoin holdings on Thursday, raising questions about the sustainability of similar bitcoin treasury companies.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

This process briefly created a straight, glowing line formed by the krypton atoms.

Read more on Science Daily

Russia said Ukrainian drone debris hit its Novovoronezh nuclear power plant near the city of Voronezh on Thursday, briefly disconnecting it from power.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• momentarily 
• quickly 
• temporarily 

When To Use

What does briefly mean?

Briefly means for a short amount of time.It can also mean concisely or in a few words, as opposed to in a longer manner, as in State your main argument briefly in a sentence or two.Briefly is the adverb form of the adjective brief, which most commonly means lasting a short time or concise. Because it’s an adverb, briefly is used to describe verbs (actions), as in I briefly considered it, or adjectives, as in The conversation was briefly tense, but then everyone started to get along.Example: It rained briefly, probably only for a few minutes.