briny
1 Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of briny1
First recorded in 1600–10; brine + -y 1
Origin of briny2
Explanation
If something is briny, it's wet and salty, like seawater. You should probably rinse out your briny swimsuit and hang it to dry in the sun. Salty ocean water is briny, and seafood often tastes a bit briny as well: "I love these briny oysters, but my brother can't stand them." Your brother may also like to keep his feet on the beach while you dive into the briny water. In the 17th century, briny was originally used to describe tears. The Old English root is bryne, "water saturated with salt."
Vocabulary lists containing briny
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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:
Viking god Erling Haaland gave a hallelujah to the briny magic of a Katz’s pastrami.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
The sort of briny treasures that tend to accumulate after an enthusiastic trip to the olive bar.
From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2026
She cold-called farm-to-table restaurants, talking chefs through sugar kelp's mild, briny flavour.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
In Thessaly, where around 45 percent of the briny white cheese is made from sheep and goat's milk, the impact of the disease is already significant.
From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026
A familiar briny breeze floats by, filling my nose with a salty scent.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
I savored the creamy interior, brinier than a sea urchin but similar in texture.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 28, 2021
Denied the simpler masculine pleasures, guys cook up the most elaborate schoolboy pranks; the brinier the life, the earthier the lingo.
From Time Magazine Archive
Normally the purest river in the European part of the Soviet Union, the Dniester became "brinier than the saltiest sea water," in Vasilyev's words.
From Time Magazine Archive
Little clouds of faint violet-coloured mist rise from the lower and brinier portions of the pack, which stretches unbroken to the horizon.
From South: the story of Shackleton's 1914-1917 expedition by Shackleton, Ernest Henry, Sir
The menu lists them from mildest to briniest, and the selection rotates regularly, depending on local farmer availability.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2021
His briniest hour: Churchill trod carefully as he emerged from the Channel Tatler noted that the Churchills were enjoying themselves "far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife".
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2011
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.
