Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

briefly

/ˈbɹiːfli/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.22 in modern English

Syllables: briefly
IPA: /ˈbɹiːfli/

15

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adv

In a brief manner, summarily.

adv

For a brief period.

adv

To be brief, in short.

Example Sentences

"He covered the subject briefly in his book."
"He only worked here briefly."
"Instead, ddakji was played for dramatic effect earlier in the season — pitting two men who had forged a sweet bond against each other, making one of them briefly believe he’d been eliminated by his friend."
"Briefly, I am not happy about what happened, but no one will be losing their job."

Etymology

From Middle English breefly, breffly, brevely, brevelike, breveliche, equivalent to brief + -ly.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: breefly

Inflected Forms

more briefly (comparative) most briefly (superlative)

Synonyms

in summarization concisely in short in a word to sum up fleetingly summarily temporarily transiently

Rhymes With

chiefly

Questions

How do you pronounce briefly?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈbɹiːfli/.
What does briefly mean?: In a brief manner, summarily.
Where does briefly come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce briefly

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “briefly”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈbɹiːfli/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “briefly”.
Repeat and practice — Say “briefly” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.