See Also: brisk(dictionary)
brisk(dictionary)

brisk (iou)



brisk adjective & verb. L16.
[Prob. from French BRUSQUE.]
A. adjective.
Quick, smart, or efficient in movement or action; lively, rapid, active. L16.
P. Kavanagh Demand for all sorts of cattle was brisk. D. du Maurier He whipped the horses to a brisker pace. P. H. Johnson This brisk and officer-like behaviour. W. Trevor She wished she was grown-up, brisk and able to cope.
b. In an unfavourable sense: curt, brusque, peremptory. Also (now rare or obsolete) transient; fast-living; hasty. E17.
Shakespeare Twelfth Night These most brisk and giddy-paced times. C. Cibber The briskest loose Liver or intemperate Man. C. Isherwood Her tone was peremptory and brisk.
Agreeably sharp to the taste, effervescent. Also, (of the air etc.) fresh, keen. L16.
Shakespeare 2 Henry IV A cup of wine that's brisk and fine. L. Durrell It is brisk weather, clear as waterglass.
Spruce, smartly dressed. L16-E17.
b. verb trans. & intrans.
Smarten (up), dress smartly. L16-M19.
Make or become (more) brisk or lively; quicken, enliven; move or behave briskly. Freq. foll. by up. E17.
R. L. Stevenson Modestine brisked up her pace. H. L. Wilson As I brisked out of bed the following morning. T. Roethke A flicker of fire brisked by a dusty wind.
brisken verb intrans. & trans. become or make brisk (also foll. by up), = BRISK verb 2 M18.
briskly adverb L16.
briskness noun M17.
brisky adjective brisk, lively, smart L16.