briefly
Americanadverb
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for a short duration.
He stopped over briefly in Chicago.
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in a few words.
Let me explain briefly.
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in a brief manner; quickly or brusquely.
She nodded briefly and began to speak.
Usage
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.
Etymology
Origin of briefly
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at brief, -ly
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.
By January 2021, the tech mogul had risen to become the world's richest person, briefly overtaking Jeff Bezos.
From BBC • Jun. 12, 2026
They say this created a situation where the aircraft's systems briefly believed the plane was actually on the ground, even though it was in the air.
From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026
Deng also crushed intraparty democracy, Pei said, with only Zhao Ziyang—the reform-minded party secretary who was placed under house arrest after opposing the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989—daring to experiment with it briefly.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026
Pedro Pizarro, chief executive of Edison International, later said that a leading theory of the fire’s ignition was that the idle line became energized briefly through induction, sparking the fire.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026
“It was an unscheduled landing, completely unexpected. Depending on who you believe, either the radar was out of order briefly while it was landing—or it just appeared. Out of nowhere.”
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
