brief

American  

[breef] / brif /

adjective

• briefer,
  comparative
• briefest
  superlative

1. lasting or taking a short time; of short duration.

   a brief walk; a brief stay in the country.

   Synonyms:

   transient, ephemeral, transitory, fleeting, short-lived

2. using few words; concise; succinct.

   a brief report on weather conditions.

   Synonyms:

   condensed, pithy, compact, terse

3. abrupt or curt.

4. scanty.

   a brief bathing suit.

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noun

• briefs
  plural

1. a short and concise statement or written item.

   Synonyms:

   abstract, epitome, précis, outline

2. an outline, the form of which is determined by set rules, of all the possible arguments and information on one side of a controversy.

   a debater's brief.

3. Law.

   1. a writ summoning one to answer to any action.

   2. a memorandum of points of fact or of law for use in conducting a case.

   3. a written argument submitted to a court.

   4. (in England) the material relevant to a case, delivered by a solicitor to the barrister who tries the case.

4. an outline, summary, or synopsis, as of a book.

5. (used with a plural verb) briefs, close-fitting, legless underpants with an elastic waistband.

6. a briefing.

7. Roman Catholic Church. a papal letter less formal than a bull, sealed with the pope's signet ring or stamped with the device borne on this ring.

8. British Theater. a free ticket; pass.

9. Obsolete. a letter.

verb (used with object)

• briefs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• briefed,
  past participle,  past
• briefing
  present participle

1. to make an abstract or summary of.

   Synonyms:

   outline, summarize

2. to instruct by a brief or briefing.

   They brief all the agents before assigning them.

3. Law. to retain as advocate in a suit.

idioms

1. in brief, in a few words; in short.

   The supervisor outlined in brief the duties of the new assistant.

2. hold a brief for, to support or defend by argument; endorse.

brief British  

/ briːf /

adjective

1. short in duration

   a brief holiday

2. short in length or extent; scanty

   a brief bikini

3. abrupt in manner; brusque

   the professor was brief with me this morning

4. terse or concise; containing few words

   he made a brief statement

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noun

1. a condensed or short statement or written synopsis; abstract

2. law a document containing all the facts and points of law of a case by which a solicitor instructs a barrister to represent a client

3. RC Church a letter issuing from the Roman court written in modern characters, as contrasted with a papal bull; papal brief

4. short for briefing

5. a paper outlining the arguments and information on one side of a debate

6. slang a lawyer, esp a barrister

7. to argue for; champion

8. in short; to sum up

verb

1. to prepare or instruct by giving a summary of relevant facts

2. to make a summary or synopsis of

3. English law

   1. to instruct (a barrister) by brief

   2. to retain (a barrister) as counsel

4. to supply potentially damaging or negative information regarding somone, as to the media, a politician, etc See also briefs

brief More Idioms  

1. see hold no brief for; in brief.

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Usage

What does brief mean? Brief is most commonly used as an adjective to mean lasting a short amount of time. As an adjective, it can also mean concise or said in a few words, as in Keep your introduction brief and get right to the point. Less commonly, brief can describe an action or interaction as abrupt or too short, often in a rude way, as in Please don’t be so brief with customers. The adverb form of the adjective brief is briefly, which most commonly means for a short amount of time or concisely. As a noun, the word brief commonly means a short written item. In a legal context, a brief is a short legal document, such as a written argument submitted to a court or some other short statement of facts for use in a legal case. Brief can also be used as a verb meaning to provide a short explanation or summary of something to someone, as in Each cabinet member will brief the president on the most important issues. The noun briefing refers to a meeting at which someone is briefed in this way. Example: The meeting was very brief—it lasted only a few minutes.

Synonym Usage

See short. See summary.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• briefer
  noun
• briefness
  noun
• unbriefness
  noun
• unbrief
  adjective
• unbriefed
  adjective
• briefly
  adverb
• unbriefly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• briefs
  plural

Adjectives

• briefer
  comparative
• briefest
  superlative

Participles

• briefing
  present
• briefed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• brief
  simple
• briefs
  simple
• have briefed
  perfect
• has briefed
  perfect
• am briefing
  progressive
• are briefing
  progressive
• is briefing
  progressive
• have been briefing
  perfect progressive
• has been briefing
  perfect progressive

Past

• briefed
  simple
• had briefed
  perfect
• was briefing
  progressive
• were briefing
  progressive
• had been briefing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will brief
  simple
• will have briefed
  perfect
• will be briefing
  progressive
• will have been briefing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of brief

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English bref, from Anglo-French, Old French, from Latin brevis “short”; see breve

Explanation

Something brief is short and to the point. If you make a brief visit, you don't stay long. If you make a brief statement, you use few words. If you wear brief shorts, you are showing a little too much leg. As a noun, a brief is a condensed summary or abstract, especially a legal summary of a case. Lawyers submit pretrial briefs to the court outlining the witnesses for the prosecution or defense. As a verb, brief means to give essential information to someone — like the President gets briefed on important matters.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

brief briefs briefer briefest briefed briefing

Each chapter surveys the hoof, trunk or some other segment of the conceptual elephant in more or less chronological progression and finishes with a brief summary of what readers ought to take away.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Moderate treadmill running affected more proteins than cycling, but still far fewer than the brief sprint session.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026

There was a brief glimmer of hope Servite would come back when it scored a touchdown to make the score 34-21 with five minutes left.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

A-Baki, born to Lebanese parents, was instrumental in brokering dialogue between Ecuador and Peru following their brief 1995 border war.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

The Incorrigible Lumleys began their day’s to-doawoos by visiting Fern and Edward in the babies’ room, and offering some brief lessons in yapping, woofing, howling, burping, wiggling, napping, and other essential skills.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

“I get regular intelligence briefs about Iran and China all the time, and then this hits, and it’s like, ‘Whoa, OK.’”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026

He briefs reporters and does television interviews, but few people would recognize him on the streets of most cities in America.

From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026

A self-described "proper working-class" woman, Rayner rose quickly in Westminster, taking up the women and equalities and education briefs in the shadow cabinet of former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

A pair of Orange County immigration attorneys received temporary suspensions after the court discovered they used generative AI to write briefs that included “multiple nonexistent cases, misattributed quotations, and gross misrepresentations.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026

In November 2009, after the briefs were filed in Joe's case and the Graham case, I went to Washington for my third U.S.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Although Dorothy Parker tried her hand at plays and had a successful writing career in Hollywood—her screenplays included 1937’s “A Star is Born”—she excelled in briefer forms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Those uprisings, later coined the Arab Spring, succeeded in bringing about a short democratic sojourn in Tunisia and a much briefer one in Egypt, but they also unleashed unrest.

From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026

Speaking to the BBC, he said he was "not challenging the prime minister" adding: "I'm not doing any of the things some silly briefer said overnight."

From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2025

Vaill could have made Pride and Pleasure a briefer book if she had chosen to constrict the male narrative and focus on the sisters alone.

From Slate ● Oct. 21, 2025

I have brief visions of the bull hook flying at my head and then even briefer visions of getting up right now, this minute, and walking back to the hobo camp.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

After repeatedly warning of the rivers’ endangerment, however, Mr. Winder concludes with only the briefest summary of the projects currently aimed at guarding against the dire outcomes he foresees.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

In his memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery,” published this year, Newsom acknowledges the liaison with Rippey, describing it as “the briefest of affairs.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Under former general manager Perry Minasian, college players would be stoked to be drafted by the Angels, who did not hesitate to promote top prospects to the major leagues after the briefest of minor-league stints.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026

Series creator Christopher Storer conveys this in the briefest, tightest shots of hands lovingly plating food, as well as in panoramic views of the series as a whole.

From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026

“She’s my granddaughter,” Eudora said loudly to the new woman, her calm demeanor disappearing for the briefest of moments.

From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley

Anthropic’s annual revenue reached $65 billion in July, according to investors briefed by the company.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Part of the group's claim was the MoD knew asbestos was present at Skrunda-1 before both exercises but troops were not briefed accordingly.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

The person actually leaving, of course, is White House “pep secretary” Karoline Leavitt, who returned from paid maternity leave about a month ago and has only briefed the press corps twice since returning.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026

A security official briefed on the ongoing forensic investigation told AFP it could take a long time for Cairo to release its results.

From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026

He then briefed me on the Reverend C. Harris, the governor of the school.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

At a briefing last week, one senior official had said this year’s drills would be bigger than ever.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

“For these companies, this is a real point of reckoning,” attorney Laura Marquez-Garrett of the Social Media Victims Law Center said during a press briefing Friday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

In 2019, China’s then-premier, Li Keqiang, visited the site and got a briefing from Chen on Hengli’s future plans.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

British Transport Police Chief Superintendent Dominique Ioannou said in a press briefing on Thursday night that a number of passengers were initially trapped but were all safely evacuated from the train.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Martinez was the subject of our pre-shift OJT briefing two days later.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

Related Words

• concise
• fleeting
• momentary
• quick
• short-lived
• swift
• temporary