briny
UK/ˈbɹaɪni/
briny adjective: of, relating to, resembling, or containing brine (“water saturated or strongly impregnated with salt”), such as seawater or tears; salty.
Adjective (1)
briny (comparative brinier or more briny, superlative briniest or most briny)
- Of, relating to, resembling, or containing brine (“water saturated or strongly impregnated with salt”), such as seawater or tears; salty.
- 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.1612, Michael Drayton, “The Eleuenth Song”, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of...
- Antonyms:
- unbriny
- Of a person: difficult to get along with or to like; acerbic, prickly, unlikable.
- [Julian] Barnes wrote "Nothing to Be Frightened Of" when he was 62. He just turned 80. This briny English writer, author of "Flaubert's Parrot" (1984) and a winner of the Booker Prize, for "The Sense of an Ending" (2011), now has a rare form of blood cancer, treatable but exhausting and uncurable.2026 January 19, Dwight Garner, “A briny Englishman (and Booker Prize winner) says farewell”, in The New York Times Book Review, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived...
Noun
the briny
- The ocean, the sea.
- "[…] [H]e was seen at t'other side of the briny, this morning." / "In France, Sir?"—continued Martha, clasping her hands.1831, [John Banim], The Smuggler; a Tale. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 40
- That afternoon Mr Slater had been for what he termed "a blow of the briny," as his custom was on a fine day. He was returning in the dusk and had crossed the spacious promenade when, at a corner, he almost ran into the broad figure of a policeman who stood talking to a woman on the path.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “The Kingsmouth Spy Case”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 1924...
Adjective (2)
briny (comparative more briny, superlative most briny)
- Especially of the sea: phosphorescent, shining.
- [S]omevvhat before a tempeſt, if the ſea-vvater bee flaſhed vvith a ſticke or Oare, the ſame caſteth a bright ſhining colour, and the drops thereof reſemble ſparekles of fire, as if the vvaues vvere turned into flames, vvhich the Saylers terms Briny.[1609, Richard Carew, “The First Booke”, in The Survey of Cornwall, London: […] S[imon] S[tafford] for Iohn Iaggard, […], →OCLC, folio 26, verso
Examples of briny in a sentence
- So may thy Silver Streams beneath the Tide, / Unmix'd vvith briny Seas, ſecurely glide.1697, Virgil, “The Tenth Pastoral. Or, Gallus.”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and...
- The King amidſt the mournful Circle roſe; / Dovvn his vvan Cheek a briny Torrent flovvs; […]1717, Homer, “Book IX”, in Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, volume III, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […]...
- The briny Stream their roſy Cheeks beſmear'd, / VVhilſt they in Clouds of Vapours diſappear'd.1720, Allan Ramsay, “Content. A Poem.”, in Poems, 3rd edition, Edinburgh: Printed for the author […] [and sold by T. Jauncy […]], →OCLC...
- Fresh water is thus being constantly distilled from the briny ocean.1877, T[homas] H[enry] Huxley, “Evaporation”, in Physiography. An Introduction to the Study of Nature, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC...
Antonyms of briny
Forms of briny
| comparative | brinier |
|---|---|
| comparative | more briny |
| superlative | briniest |
| superlative | most briny |
Origin of 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 uncertain, possibly from Middle English brine (“act of burning; fire”, noun), from Old English bryne (“act of burning; fire, flame; heat”), from Proto-Germanic *bruniz (“act of burning; fire”), from *brinnaną (“to be on fire, burn”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- (“to boil; to brew”).
Words formed from briny
Words that rhyme with briny
Questions about briny
- What does briny mean?
- Briny means of, relating to, resembling, or containing brine (“water saturated or strongly impregnated with salt”), such as seawater or tears; salty.
- How do you use briny in a sentence?
- So may thy Silver Streams beneath the Tide, / Unmix'd vvith briny Seas, ſecurely glide.
- What part of speech is briny?
- Briny can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce briny?
- Briny is pronounced /ˈbɹaɪni/ (UK).
Words near briny in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: briny (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-au-briny.ogg.
Cite this entry: “briny.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/briny. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.