brisk
/bɹɪsk/
brisk adjective: full of liveliness and activity; characterized by quickness of motion or action.
Adjective
brisk (comparative brisker or more brisk, superlative briskest or most brisk)
- Full of liveliness and activity; characterized by quickness of motion or action.
- We took a brisk walk yesterday.
- On such occasions he would remark--
"Shaving may add an air that's somewhat brisker,
For dignity, commend me to the whisker."1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 10
- Full of spirit of life; effervescing.
- Sparkling; fizzy.
- brisk cider
- Stimulating or invigorating.
- This morning was a brisk fall day. It wasn't cold enough for frost, but you wanted to keep moving.
- Why, if 'tis dancing you would be, / There's brisker pipes than poetry.1896, A. E. Housman, “Terence, this is stupid stuff”, in A Shropshire Lad
- Abrupt, curt in one's manner or in relation to others.
- The service in that restaurant was brisk and impersonal.
- Her manner was brisk, and her good-breeding scarcely concealed her conviction that if you were not a soldier you might as well be a counter-jumper.1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 15”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC
Verb
brisk (third-person singular simple present brisks, present participle brisking, simple past and past participle brisked)
Proper noun capitalized: Brisk
Brisk
brisk meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
brisk in Hindi
- full of liveliness and activity
- फुरतीला phurtīlā
brisk in Tamil
- சுறுசுறுப்பான, விரைவான, ஆர்வமான, கூர்மதியுடைய
brisk in Marathi
- full of liveliness and activity
- चपळ capaḷ, चलाख calākh, द्रुत drut
brisk in Urdu
- brisk, quick, active, agile, alert
- چست cust
More languagesFewer languages
- brisk in Bengali
- কর্মঠ, তাজা, উদ্যমী
- brisk in Malayalam
- ചുറുചുറുക്കുള്ള
- brisk in Kannada
- ಬಿರು, ಚುರುಕು, ಚುರುಕಾದ, ವೇಗವಾದ
- brisk in Odia
- ଉଷ୍ଣ uṣṇa
- brisk in Arabic
- دَجِر dajir
Examples of brisk in a sentence
- After a brisk walk, I washed up and changed my shirt.
- We started at a brisk walk and ended at a plod.
- Rebleeds are not unusual. A brisk rebleed is an urgent concern.
Synonyms of brisk
Forms of brisk
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | brisker |
| comparative | more brisk |
| superlative | briskest |
| superlative | most brisk |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | brisks |
| present participle | brisking |
| past participle | brisked |
| past | brisked |
Origin of brisk
Uncertain; probably a collateral form of brusque, but compare Irish briosc, Scottish Gaelic brisg, Welsh brys.
Words formed from brisk
Phrases with brisk
Words that rhyme with brisk
Questions about brisk
- What does brisk mean?
- Brisk means full of liveliness and activity; characterized by quickness of motion or action.
- What is brisk in Hindi?
- Brisk in Hindi is फुरतीला (phurtīlā). See Brisk meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is brisk?
- Brisk can be an adjective, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce brisk?
- Brisk is pronounced /bɹɪsk/.
Words near brisk in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: brisk (page history and authors); Brisk (page history and authors); brisk (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); چست (Urdu) (page history and authors); brisk (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); brisk (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); brisk (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ଉଷ୍ଣ (Odia) (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-brisk.wav.
Cite this entry: “brisk.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/brisk. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.