briefs

Word family

• brief
  adjectiveA2
• briefly
  adverbB1
• briefing
  nounB2
• brevity
  nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Brief and short both describe limited duration, but brief carries a slightly more deliberate tone — a brief meeting was intentionally kept short, whereas a short meeting simply did not last long. Short is the everyday, general-purpose word (A2 level); brief is a step up (A2–B1). Fleeting adds a poetic or emotional quality, suggesting something passes so quickly that you barely have time to register it — a fleeting glance, a fleeting moment of happiness. Momentary is even more precise: it refers to something that lasts only a literal moment (seconds). In casual conversation, use short for most situations. In formal writing or when you want to emphasise that something was deliberately contained, use brief. For example: 'We had a brief chat before the lecture' (planned short conversation) versus 'We had a short chat' (neutral statement about duration).

Common collocations

Etymology

The word 'brief' traces back to the Latin adjective 'brevis', meaning 'short'. This entered Old French as 'brief' and was adopted into Middle English around the 1300s. The adjective sense describing short duration came first. From there, the word developed into a noun meaning 'a short written document' (a legal brief), and later the verb 'to brief' emerged — originally meaning to summarize a document, and later shifting to mean giving someone advance information. The noun 'briefs' meaning short underpants appeared in the early 1900s, named for their shorter leg length compared to the long underwear styles that were common at the time.