brief
UK/ˈbɹiːf//ˈbɹif/
brief adjective: of short duration; happening quickly. Also the attributive form of briefs.
Adjective
brief (comparative briefer or more brief, superlative briefest or most brief)
- Of short duration; happening quickly.
- Her reign was brief but spectacular.
- Some, how briefe the Life of man / runs his erring pilgrimage, / That the ſtretching of a ſpan, / buckles in his ſumme of age.c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- Synonyms:
- temporal
- Concise; taking few words.
- His speech of acceptance was brief but moving.
- The briefe ſtyle is that which expreſſeth much in little.a. 1637, Ben Jonson, “Discoveries”, in The Works of Ben Jonson, volume 2, London: Richard Bishop, published 1641
- Occupying a small distance, area or spatial extent; short.
- On the beach he always wore a straw hat with a red band and a brief pair of leopard print trunks.1983, Robert Drewe, The Bodysurfers, Penguin, published 2009, page 17
- Rife; common; prevalent.
Noun
brief (plural briefs)
- A writ summoning one to answer; an official letter or mandate.
- A short papal letter.
- It was in vain that the bishop published a new papal brief, declaring valid the excommunications which he had issued, and those of the inquisitors to be null, and requiring them to seek absolution from him.1891 August, Henry Charles Lea, “A Colonial Inquisitor”, in The Atlantic, →ISSN, archived from the original on 24 Feb 2026
- A short papal letter.
- An answer to any action.
- A written answer or any other brief shall be submitted to the court while allowing a period necessary for the opponent to make preparations with regard to the matters stated therein.1996, Japanese Rules of Civil Procedure, Article 79, Section 1
- A memorandum of points of fact or of law for use in conducting a case.
- A position of interest or advocacy.
- Mrs. Hope was, we believe, a convert to the Roman Catholic Church, and neither she nor her editor conceals the fact that they hold a brief for the Pope and for Catharine against Henry VIII.1894 August 18, “The First Divorce of Henry VIII [book review]”, in The Speaker, volume 10, page 192
- An attorney's legal argument in written form for submission to a court.
- The material relevant to a case, delivered by a solicitor to the barrister who is counsel for the case.
- A barrister who is counsel for a party in a legal action.
- A short news story or report.
- We got a news brief.
- Hie good ſir Mighell, beare this ſealed briefe / With winged haſte to the Lord Marſhall / This to my cooſen Scroope, and all the reſt / To whom they are directed.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- Underwear briefs.
- I wear boxer shorts under trousers but for sports I usually wear a brief.
- Swimming briefs.
- A summary, précis or epitome; an abridgement or abstract.
- […] euen ſo it fareth with mee, who béeing about to anatomize Abſurditie, am vrged to take a view of ſundry mens vanitie, a ſuruey of their follie, a briefe of their barbariſme […]1589, Thomas Nashe, The Anatomie of Absurditie
- EACH woman is a brief of womankind, / And doth in little e’en as much contain, / As in one day and night all life we find ; / Of either more is but the ſame again […]a. 1613, Sir Thomas Overbury, “A Wife”, in The Miscellaneous Works in Verse and Prose of Sir Thomas Overbury, Knt. with Memoir of his Life, 10th edition, London: W. Owen, published 1756, page 23
- A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a collection or charitable contribution of money in churches, for any public or private purpose.
- A ticket of any type.
Verb
brief (third-person singular simple present briefs, present participle briefing, simple past and past participle briefed)
- To summarize a recent development to some person with decision-making power.
- The U.S. president was briefed on the military coup and its implications on African stability.
- Lubbers was briefed by Shanghai Mayor Jiang Zemin on the city's economic situation, and this evening, Lubbers attended a banquet hosted by the Shanghai Municipal Governoment^([sic – meaning Government]).1987 May 18 [1987 May 15], “Visits Shanghai”, in Daily Report: China, volume I, number 095, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, sourced from Beijing XINHUA, →ISSN, →OCLC, People's Republic of...
- To write a legal argument and submit it to a court.
Adverb
brief (comparative more brief, superlative most brief)
- Briefly.
- Whence Adam faultring long, thus anſwer’d brief.1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- Soon; quickly.
- But that a ioy paſt ioy, calls out on me, / It were a griefe, to briefe to part with thee : / Farewell.c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
Also used as
brief is also the attributive form of briefs.
brief meaning in Urdu, Bengali and Arabic
brief in Urdu
- of short duration
- مُخْتَصَر muxtasar
- concise
- مُخْتَصَر muxtasar
brief in Bengali
- of short duration
- মুখতসর mukhtosor
- concise
- মুখতসর mukhtosor
brief in Arabic
- of short duration
- وَجِيز wajīz, قَصِير qaṣīr
- concise
- وَجِيز wajīz, مُوجَز mūjaz
Examples of brief in a sentence
- It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
- That brief moment after the election four years ago, when many Americans thought Mr.2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in The New York Times, archived from the...
- It is being briefed that Southeastern operations will return to the private sector, and that use of the Operator of Last Resort team will be a temporary arrangement.2021 October 20, Industry Insider, “The wheels turn slowly”, in RAIL, number 942, page 68:
Synonyms of brief
Forms of brief
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | briefer |
| comparative | more brief |
| superlative | briefest |
| superlative | most brief |
| Noun | |
| plural | briefs |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | briefs |
| present participle | briefing |
| past participle | briefed |
| past | briefed |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more brief |
| superlative | most brief |
Origin of brief
From Middle English breef, breve, bref, from Old French brief, bref, from Latin brevis (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *mréǵʰus (“short, brief”). Doublet of breve and merry.
Words formed from brief
Phrases with brief
Words that rhyme with brief
Questions about brief
- What does brief mean?
- Brief means of short duration; happening quickly.
- What is brief in Urdu?
- Brief in Urdu is مُخْتَصَر (muxtasar). See Brief meaning in Urdu.
- How do you use brief in a sentence?
- It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room.
- What part of speech is brief?
- Brief can be an adjective, a noun, a verb or an adverb.
- How do you pronounce brief?
- Brief is pronounced /ˈbɹiːf/ (UK).
Words near brief in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: brief (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-brief.ogg.
Cite this entry: “brief.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/brief. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.