/brisk-meaning

/brisk-meaning-etymology-synonyms

-) Adjective.

-) Pronunciation: brɪsk.

-) Etymology: of uncertain origin.

-) Comparative form: brisker. Superlative form: briskest.

-) It is dated from the end of 1300.

-) 1. -) a. (Of an animated being) moving with quickness; quick in action or movement; acting briskly or actively. 

-) Synonyms for “brisk”: active, quick, cheery, nimble, sprightly, energetic, zippy, spry, perk.

-) Antonyms of “brisk”: dull, moped, inactive, sluggish, lazy, slothful.

-) Translation: activo, dinámico, in Spanish; expéditif, actif, dynamique, in French; dinamico, attivo, in Italian.

When the ladies were gone, which was as soon as Amelia could prevail on Mrs. James to depart, Colonel Bath, who had been pretty brisk with champagne at dinner, soon began to display his magnanimity.

Fielding… Amelia… 1751

According to this most pleasing of all naturalists, the microscope discovers that the seminal liquor, not only of males, but of females also, abounds in these moving little animals which have been mentioned above, and that they appear equally brisk in either fluid.

Goldsmith… A History of the Earth… 1774

… so I became sullen and silent, my opponent in an equal degree brisk and loquacious. 

Howard… Rattlin the Reefer… 1834

… the old gentleman came in as brisk as need be.

Dickens… Oliver… 1838

… it was a common saying among their friends, that it was impossible to say which looked the happier, Tim as he sat calmly smiling in his elbow-chair on one side of the fire, or his brisk little wife chatting and laughing, and constantly bustling in and out of hers, on the other.

Dickens… Nicholas… 1839

… she looked brisk with impatience, laughing a low laugh…

G. Meredith… The Shaving… 1856

'Beg pardon, sir,' said a brisk waiter, rubbing the table. 'Wish see bed-room?'

Dickens… Little Dorrit… 1857

-) b. (Of the action or of the motion of an animated being) done with quickness, promptness or activity.

-) Translation: activo, in Spanish; actif, in French; attivo, in Italian.

The group before him consisted of French and Spanish peasants, the inhabitants of a neighbouring hamlet, some of whom were performing a sprightly dance, the women with castanets in their hands, to the sounds of a lute and a tamborine, till, from the brisk melody of France, the music softened into a slow movement....

A. Radcliffe… The Mysteries… 1794

… they proceeded onward at a brisk pace.

Dickens… Barnaby… 1841

They had some medicine in their chest; and this man of sad experience showed Mark how and when to administer it, and how he could best alleviate the sufferings of Martin. His attentions did not stop there; for he was backwards and forwards constantly, and rendered Mark good service in all his brisk attempts to make their situation more endurable.

Dickens… Martin Chuzzlewit… 1844

"It is wonderful," says Pliny, "how the mind is stirred to activity by brisk bodily exercise."

Pater… Marius… 1885

A brisk tattoo of knuckles on the oaken door stopped him. Bill came in, grinning with satisfaction over something.

Bower… The Gringos… 1913

No one made reply to this; it seemed scarcely worth while. Every man of them rode humped away from the wind, his head drawn down as close to his shoulders as might be. Conversation under those conditions was not likely to become brisk.

Bower… The Happy Family… 1910

The bells pretty well covered our horses from their necks to their haunches, a pair of gallant grays urged to their briskest pace by the driver…

Howells… Familiar Spanish Travels… 1913

-) 2. Metaphor:

-) a. (Of a beverage or a liquor) agreeably sharp; spirited; effervescent.

-) Antonyms: unspirited, insipid, flat, stale.

-) Translation: brusco, in Italian; agréablement spiritueux, in French; agradablemente espiritoso, in Spanish.

And the Bavarian beer, my dear friend, how good and brisk and light it is!

Thackeray… Roundabout Papers… 1860

-) b. (Of the air) fresh, keen.

The air was brisk.  

B. Disraeli… Venetia… 1837

The sun was bright, the air brisk and invigorating.

Thackeray… The History of Pendennis… 1850

-) c. (Of wind, fire, cold, shower, etc) vigorous.

We had been two days almost totally becalmed, when, a brisk gale rising as we were in sight in Dunkirk, we saw a vessel making full sail towards us.

Fielding… Mr. Jonathan Wild… 1743 

… the fire must be brisk and clear.

The Cook and Housewife’s Manual… 1826

A brisk shower, with severe thunder and lightning, came on about dusk

Poe… Arthur… 1838

When the entire chimney had thus been raised, and had been properly bound in with outward props, a brisk fire was kindled, and kept going until it was burned to something like a brick-red.

Cooper… The Deerslayer… 1841

A breeze from the north brought this stratum of cloud and, being a little brisk in force, rippled the entire surface of the sea.

Scoresby… Voyage to Australia… 1859

A brisk northeasterly wind was blowing, causing the bosom of the river to flash in ripples of light.

Black… Macleod of Dare… 1878

Mrs. Lander realized when the ship came to anchor in the stream at Liverpool that she had not been seasick a moment during the voyage. In the brisk cold of the winter morning, as they came ashore in the tug, she fancied a property of health in the European atmosphere, which she was sure would bring her right up, if she stayed long enough…

Howells… Ragged Lady… 1899

-) d. (Of a purgative, drug, etc.) drastic.

… as our patient was costive, he was ordered to take five grains of calomel at bed-time, and to follow this with a brisk purgative on the following morning.

The Lancet, edited by Wakley… 1823?

-) e. (Of any fact, as a trade, business, etc., in which interaction of people occurs) characterized by briskness.

It had been a brisk market.

Scott… The Two Drovers… 1827

He walked into the market while they were getting breakfast ready for him at the Inn; and though it was the same market as of old, crowded by the same buyers and sellers; brisk with the same business; noisy with the same confusion of tongues and cluttering of fowls in coops; […]; still it was strangely changed to Tom.

Dickens… Martin… 1844

When the supper, which was very brisk and gay, was over, and Captain Costigan and Mrs. Bolton had partaken of some of the rack-punch that is so fragrant at Vauxhall, the bill was called and discharged by Pen with great generosity… 

Thackeray… The History… 1850

… artificers in wood abounded, and the timber trade was brisk.

T. Hardy… A Changed Man and other Tales… 1913

Their small mill was only adapted for the supply of certain kinds of lumber, for which there was now not much demand, and they had not enough money to remodel it, while business would not get brisk again until the spring.

H. Bindloss… Carmen's Messenger… 1917

-) English words derived from BRISK: brisk (verb), brisken, briskening, briskish, briskly, briskness, brisky, brisked, brisking.

 

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