brisk
Americanadjective
-
brisker,
comparative
-
briskest
superlative
verb (used with or without object)
adjective
-
lively and quick; vigorous
a brisk walk
trade was brisk
-
invigorating or sharp
brisk weather
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of brisk
First recorded in 1580–90; of uncertain origin
Explanation
Brisk is one of those delightful words that sounds like what it means: quick, lively, bracing, and refreshing. There's nothing like a brisk walk in the morning to get the blood flowing and the spirit ready for the day. Anything brisk is happening quickly but not too fast. Probably taken from the French brusque, which also means "quick," but in a more negative way, brisk can be used to describe not only physical actions but also more conceptual notions, such as brisk business around the holidays or brisk interactions at a speed-dating event. The soft-drink called Brisk must be called that for a good reason. Perhaps it picks you up!
Vocabulary lists containing brisk
100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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Words to Know Before You Defrost the Bird
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"The Drummer Boy of Shiloh"
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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:
Chow, 41, is a Cambridge-educated lawyer who represented herself at the trial, speaking at a brisk pace and responding to questions quickly.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
Tarp sales have been brisk, with the Three Rivers Mercantile store at the bottom of the mountain reporting 60 sold this season.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
The weather looks decidedly mixed for these events, with a fresher feel, brisk winds - especially in the south - and the likelihood of rain at times.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Northerly winds will be fairly brisk around some coasts, and will make it feel rather cool.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Bigwig, with his usual brisk energy, set to work.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
While heatwave conditions will continue across many parts of England and Wales through this coming week, a brisker wind means temperatures have dropped a degree or two relative to recent days.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
From time to time I’ll make an exception and settle into a relative page-turner: nothing with cliffhangers or lots of hand-to-hand combat, mind you, but with a brisker narrative pace.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
A brisker, more classically mounted western might have kept her offscreen, relegating her to the sheriff’s back story.
From New York Times ● May 30, 2024
We would be in a better place if the speed had been brisker.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2023
One morning there was a different smell in the air, and the ship was moving oddly, with a brisker rocking from side to side instead of the plunging and soaring.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
Mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly accelerated in August to the briskest pace since April and firms reported input price pressures eased to the lowest since late 2020.
From Reuters ● Aug. 18, 2022
The planets are putting on an amazing celestial show nightly, and many regions of the country are about to host some of the briskest bird traffic of the year.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 21, 2021
Ms. Mearns, never rushed by this, creates marvelous dynamic variety within it, often finding time to phrase with seeming slowness, while rising to its briskest passages as if riding the full power of a wave.
From New York Times ● Sep. 23, 2015
British factories followed Asia's lead, increasing activity at the fastest rate in seven months while creating new jobs in at the briskest pace in more than three years.
From Reuters ● Jul. 1, 2014
Let it get dealt down to showin' attentions to a lady, an' the briskest sport'll have to move some sudden, or the Doc'll beat him to it.
From Faro Nell and Her Friends Wolfville Stories by W. Herbert Dunton
The night air and moonlight brisked him up; he felt a reaction towards Sabina and perceived that she must have suffered a good deal.
From The Spinners by Eden Phillpotts
She was feeling quite brisked up by her interview with Shaw, and her indignation supplied her with strength.
From Good Luck by L. T. Meade
"When I was in Edinburgh," I replied, "I had not the spirit of a pooked hen, but holding the banner at Sanquhar hath wondrously brisked me."
From The Men of the Moss-Hags Being a history of adventure taken from the papers of William Gordon of Earlstoun in Galloway by S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett
They brisked up when they heard this offer.
From Athelstane Ford by Allen Upward
House of Commons, Monday, August 7.—House brisked up to-day on approaching Report Stage Home-Rule Bill; over three hundred Members present, including Joseph, fresh from Birmingham; on whole, a melancholy gathering.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 105, August 19th 1893 by Various
She was relieved to see that the oddly assorted men and women about her were brisking up, and beginning to talk, even to laugh, with one another.
From From out the Vasty Deep by Marie Belloc Lowndes
As I write the breeze is brisking up, doors are beginning to slam: and shutters; a strong draught sweeps round the balcony; it looks doubtful for to-morrow.
From Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson — Volume 2 by Robert Louis Stevenson
“Oh rather,” he assented, brisking up at the prospect of a row.
From A Frontier Mystery by Bertram Mitford
“He wandered off by himself,” Major Coote answered, brisking up a little.
From Athelstane Ford by Allen Upward
"Such a charming musical evening—such a treat!" said she, brisking up, and quite unaware of what had been passing round her the last two hours.
From Bluebell A Novel by Mrs. George Croft Huddleston
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.
