briefly
Americanadverb
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for a short duration.
He stopped over briefly in Chicago.
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in a few words.
Let me explain briefly.
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in a brief manner; quickly or brusquely.
She nodded briefly and began to speak.
Usage
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.
Etymology
Origin of briefly
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.
And he gleefully told her when they briefly met.
From BBC
After 17 years, she moved to Twitter's Australian operation and then briefly to Adobe.
From BBC
He briefly took the lead at the third interval, leading to chants of "Giovanni" from the large number of Italian fans.
From Barron's
He briefly took the lead at the third interval, leading to chants of "Giovanni" from the large number of Italian fans.
From Barron's
A South Korean cryptocurrency exchange apologised on Saturday after mistakenly transferring more than $40 billion worth of bitcoin to users, which briefly prompted a selloff on the platform.
From Barron's
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.
