brief
/ˈbɹif/adjective, noun, verb
brief is spelled B-R-I-E-F. The wrong spelling people search most is breif: about 470 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 17 of all searches for the word. Brief is an adjective meaning “Of short duration; happening quickly”.
How many letters and syllables are in brief?
| Letters | 5: B-R-I-E-F |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 33 times per million words; the 2,888th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, breif, about 470 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell brief?
Brief is spelled B-R-I-E-F. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 17 of the searches for brief in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is brief?
Brief appears 33 times per million words in written English, the 2,888th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce brief?
- UK /ˈbɹiːf/
- UK [ˈbɹʷɪi̯f]
- US /ˈbɹif/
Brief has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-brief.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with brief
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with brief?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as brief from its last stressed vowel (/if/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: fiber, fibre.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of brief
- briefer comparative
- more brief comparative
- briefest superlative
- most brief superlative
- briefs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- briefing participle, present
- briefed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does brief mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of short duration; happening quickly.
Her reign was brief but spectacular.
- 2
Concise; taking few words.
His speech of acceptance was brief but moving.
- 3
Occupying a small distance, area or spatial extent; short.
- 4
obsoleteRife; common; prevalent.
noun
- 1
A writ summoning one to answer; an official letter or mandate.
- 2
A short papal letter.
- 3
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.
- 4
A memorandum of points of fact or of law for use in conducting a case.
- 5
A position of interest or advocacy.
- 6
An attorney's legal argument in written form for submission to a court.
- 7
The material relevant to a case, delivered by a solicitor to the barrister who is counsel for the case.
- 8
slangA barrister who is counsel for a party in a legal action.
verb
- 1
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.
- 2
To write a legal argument and submit it to a court.
adverb
- 1
obsoleteBriefly.
- 2
obsoleteSoon; quickly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate brief?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of brief: Br..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Brief in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bref, court |
| German | kurz , prägnant , Breve , kurze Zusammenfassung , briefen, instruieren |
| Portuguese | breve , resumir, brifar |
| Spanish | breve, corto , conciso, sucinto, escueto , resumen |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does brief come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).