frequently_asked_questions_files/Oxford Thesaurus.pdf

ief adj. 1 short, momentary, little, fleeting; short-lived,
transitory, transient, evanescent, passing, temporary,
ephemeral, fugitive: The lights went back on after a brief
interval. His glory was brief. 2 short, concise, succinct, to
the point; condensed, shortened, cut, curtailed, abbreviated,
compressed, abridged, thumbnail, compendious: The chairman made
a few brief remarks. Here is a brief description of what
happened. 3 curt, abrupt, terse, short, blunt, brusque: You
mustn't be so brief with little children.
--n. 4 summary, outline, digest, pr‚cis, r‚sum‚, compendium,
abstract, condensation, abridgement or US only abridgment,
synopsis, extract: This is merely a brief; the full document
will follow. 5 in brief. briefly, concisely, in sum, in
summary, to sum up, succinctly, in a word: He is a cutthroat,
too - in brief, the greatest scoundrel living.
--v. 6 advise, inform, fill in, coach, instruct, enlighten;
explain, run through or down: Howard will brief you on the
details.
briefly adv. 1 concisely, tersely, succinctly, in a word, in short;
bluntly, curtly, in a nutshell, in a few words, to sum up:
Briefly, the plan is a complete non-starter. 2 momentarily, for
a few moments or seconds or minutes, fleetingly, hurriedly,
hastily, quickly: I stopped briefly at the post office on my
way home.
bright adj. 1 light, shining, gleaming, radiant, brilliant,
resplendent, glittering, flashing, Formal refulgent, effulgent,
fulgent, fulgid, fulgorous; alight, aglow, beaming, dazzling,
glowing, luminous, lambent, incandescent, ablaze with: We
arrived on a bright, sunny day. The water was bright with
phosphorescence. 2 clear, cloudless, fair, unclouded: It
certainly is a bright night - you can see every star. 3 shiny,
polished, lustrous, glossy, sparkling: I want that brass so
bright I can see my face in it. 4 hopeful, optimistic,
favourable, propitious, auspicious, promising, rosy: Glenys's
job prospects are not very bright. 5 brilliant, vivid, intense,
fluorescent, US trade mark Day-Glo: But you said you wanted the
room bright orange, Madam. 6 intelligent, clever, quick-witted,
witty, brilliant, keen-minded, sharp-witted, gifted, astute,
ingenious, alert, smart; precocious; Colloq brainy, on the ball: