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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"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:
Temperatures will fall much closer to the seasonal norm with brisk winds accentuating the colder feel around some eastern coasts and the chance of overnight frost in places.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
Even without the federal subsidies, the used EV market has been brisk — thanks largely to the spike in gas prices, as my colleague Caroline Petrow-Cohen has reported.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
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
Still, Seo expects the company to sustain solid earnings growth in 2026 and 2027, driven by brisk shipments of high-bandwidth memory 4 products for artificial intelligence data servers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
With a brisk cheery manner she scooped up a handful of soil, rubbing it into her paws to give some extra gripping power.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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
We would be in a better place if the speed had been brisker.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2023
Musicians and tech people have all become brisker about interactions, communicating online and speaking quickly and efficiently in rehearsals.
From New York Times ● Jul. 27, 2022
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
But the briskest, and most eager, and most energetic, was really the smaller—a black-eyed, be-curled, laughing miss who seemed bubbling over with high spirits.
From The Girls of Central High on Track and Field The Champions of the School League by Gertrude W. Morrison
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
He woke up when the march was over and brisked up his moustache.
From Villa Rubein, and other stories by John Galsworthy
Modestine brisked up her pace for perhaps three steps, and then relapsed into her former minuet.
From Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes by Robert Louis Stevenson
Bakers' shops were piled high with WEIHNACHTSSTOLLEN, which were a special mark of the festival: cakes shaped like torpedoes, whose sugared, almonded coats brisked brown and tempting.
From Maurice Guest by Henry Handel Richardson
I gave it him, and was not disappointed in the result, for he brisked up wonderfully.
From Maiwa's Revenge by Henry Rider Haggard
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
“He wandered off by himself,” Major Coote answered, brisking up a little.
From Athelstane Ford by Allen Upward
The two friends entered The Hague, brisking up their pace and stepping gallantly abreast.
From The Blue Pavilions by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
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 The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 24 (of 25) by Robert Louis Stevenson
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
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