Briːf I Short Meeting Made Adjective Visit/Meeting/Conversation Mozart's

• a brief visit/meeting/conversation
• mozart's life was brief.
• he said nothing during the brief court appearance.
• a brief pause/silence

brief

1. lasting only a short time; short
• a brief visit/meeting/conversation
• Mozart's life was brief.
• He said nothing during the brief court appearance.
• a brief pause/silence
• Susan and Mary were enjoying a brief moment of solitude.
• He died after a relatively brief period of suffering.

Extra Examples

• Could you make it brief? I've got a meeting in ten minutes.
• The wait was mercifully brief, little more than an hour.
• Sean gave a brief glance at the screen.
• The prime minister is due to make a brief visit to South Korea.
• There was a brief silence after I made my announcement.
2. using few words
• a brief description/summary/overview
• Please be brief (= say what you want to say quickly).
• I will keep my comments brief.
• Section 1 of the book gives a brief history of Mexico.
• I made a brief introductory statement and our meeting began.

Extra Examples

• I promised to be brief.
• The diary entries were tantalizingly brief.
• This necessarily brief account concentrates on two main areas.
• David gave me a brief summary of what was said at the meeting.
• He began with a brief introduction.
• Saunders's lawyer made a brief statement to the press outside the court.
• The author makes only a brief mention of the role of Japan in this period.
• The leaflet provides a brief description of the changes to the benefits system.
3. short and not covering much of the body
• a brief skirt
4. in a few words, without details
• In brief, the meeting was a disaster.
• Now the rest of the news in brief.

Word Origin

• Middle English: from Old French brief, from Latin brevis ‘short’. The noun is via late Latin breve ‘note, dispatch’, hence ‘an official letter’.