brb

intj

The verdict

“brb” is uncommon French (frequency #72,977 among 4,251 “B” headwords), classed as an interjection. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#72,977
frequency rank, French
4,251
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Employé principalement dans les forums de messagerie instantanée ou clavardage pour indiquer que l’on s’absente temporairement.

Corpus desk

Index FR-brb · brb · French

brb · rank #72,977 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #72,977
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-0 0 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,251
  • PHOTO-FINISH Bowden

Nearest frequency peer: Bowden (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rangs de longue queue près de « brb »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « brb » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for brb
PropertyValue
Headwordbrb
LanguageFrench
Part of speechInterjection
Letters3
Frequency rank#72,977
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « brb » en français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.brbtombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « Bowden » (#72,976), « bourgades » (#72,975), « bouillis » (#72,974). Parmi 4,251 lemmes en « B », « brb » est au #72,977. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

brb is uncommon French at frequency #72,977 among 4,251 “B” headwords, classed as aninterjection. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Employé principalement dans les forums de messagerie instantanée ou clavardage pour indiquer que l’on s’absente temporairement.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for brb, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is brb, spelled B-R-B.

Definition

  1. 1
    Employé principalement dans les forums de messagerie instantanée ou clavardage pour indiquer que l’on s’absente temporairement.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how brb appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I’m going to the bank, brb.
  2. i going to buy a soda, brb !

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "brb"?
"brb" is spelled B-R-B.
What does "brb" mean?
As an interjection, "brb" means: Employé principalement dans les forums de messagerie instantanée ou clavardage pour indiquer que l’on s’absente temporairement.
What language does "brb" come from?
"brb" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "brb", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list