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

"Most living organisms, including humans, cannot survive even briefly in the vacuum of space," says lead author Tomomichi Fujita of Hokkaido University.

Read more on Science Daily

That has worried government officials, especially after Musk briefly threatened to cancel the company’s Dragon vehicle earlier this year.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Bier said on Saturday that X’s data “was not 100 percent” and briefly pulled access to the feature.

Read more on Salon

The father of six also dabbled in production, with movies starring his sons Sunny and Bobby Deol, and briefly served as a member of parliament.

Read more on Barron's

But the scam was revealed when the family briefly moved back to New York and Stein was nearing the end of high school.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

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.