Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

briny

/ˈbɹaɪni/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: 2.20 in modern English

Syllables: briny
IPA: /ˈbɹaɪni/

10

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

1

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of, relating to, resembling, or containing brine (“water saturated or strongly impregnated with salt”), such as seawater or tears; salty.

adj

Of a person: difficult to get along with or to like; acerbic, prickly, unlikable.

noun

The ocean, the sea.

Humorous; Informal

adj

Especially of the sea: phosphorescent, shining.

Archaic; Obsolete

Example Sentences

"on the briny deep"
"And, vvhat the famous Flood farre more then that enriches, / That bracky Fountaines are, thoſe tvvo renovvned VVyches, / The Nant-vvyche, and the North, vvhoſe either brynie VVell, / For ſtore and ſorts of Salts, make VVeeuer to excell."
"So may thy Silver Streams beneath the Tide, / Unmix'd vvith briny Seas, ſecurely glide."
"The King amidſt the mournful Circle roſe; / Dovvn his vvan Cheek a briny Torrent flovvs; […]"
"The briny Stream their roſy Cheeks beſmear'd, / VVhilſt they in Clouds of Vapours diſappear'd."
"[T]he sea was a region where every fable and prodigy of the ancients still existed: the briniest old Triton that ever gulled the marines, with his tongue in his cheek and his weather-eye winking, or the sharpest young reefer that ever astonished a tea-party after his first voyage, couldn't have strung together a more surprising set of incidents."

Etymology

Etymology tree English brine Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English briny The adjective is from brine (noun) + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the quality of’). The noun is from the adjective.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: *bʰreyH-, *bʰrewh₁-, brine, bryne, *bruniz

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈbɹaɪni/
British English: /ˈbɹaɪni/

Usage

Inflected Forms

brinier (comparative) more briny (comparative) briniest (superlative) most briny (superlative) the briny (canonical)

Derived Forms

brinily brininess unbriny

Synonyms

brackish main

Antonyms

unbriny

Rhymes With

tiny shiny whiny spiny piney heinie sunshiny minae winy viny

Questions

How do you pronounce briny?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈbɹaɪni/.
What does briny mean?: Of, relating to, resembling, or containing brine (“water saturated or strongly impregnated with salt”), such as seawater or tears; salty.
Where does briny come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce briny

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