Brief vs. Short — What's the Difference?

Concise and to the point, often used to describe efficient communication or short durations with a focus on substance.

Limited in length, duration, or extent, sometimes implying inadequacy.

In legal contexts, a brief is a concise statement or summary.

Describing physical dimensions or quantities.

Used to describe concise written communications.

In financial contexts, being short means lacking resources.

Describing efficient meetings or presentations.

Referring to time periods that feel insufficient.

Referring to short periods of time with a focus on productivity.

Used in narratives to imply a lack of depth or detail.

Short in time, duration, length, or extent.

Measuring a small distance from end to end

Succinct; concise

Lasting or taking a small amount of time

Curt; abrupt

Relatively small in extent

A short, succinct statement.

(of a vowel) categorized as short with regard to quality and length (e.g. in standard British English the vowel /ʊ/ in good is short as distinct from the long vowel /uː/ in food).

A condensation or an abstract of a larger document or series of documents.

(of a person) terse; uncivil

(Law) A document concisely stating the legal points being made, including often the citation and explanation of supporting legal authority.

(of odds or a chance) reflecting or representing a high level of probability

Roman Catholic Church A papal letter that is not as formal as a bull.

(of pastry) containing a high proportion of fat to flour and therefore crumbly.

A briefing.

(chiefly in sport) at, to, or over a relatively small distance

Often briefs Short, tight-fitting underpants.

A drink of spirits served in a small measure.

Briefs Chiefly British The instructions that are given to explain a task or assignment.

A short film as opposed to a feature film.

To give instructions or preparatory information to

A short sound such as a short signal in Morse code or a short vowel or syllable

To summarize.

A short circuit.

Of short duration; happening quickly.

A person who sells short.

Concise; taking few words.

A mixture of bran and coarse flour.

Occupying a small distance, area or spatial extent; short.

Short-circuit or cause to short-circuit

(obsolete) Rife; common; prevalent.

Sell (stocks or other securities or commodities) in advance of acquiring them, with the aim of making a profit when the price falls

(legal) A writ summoning one to answer; an official letter or mandate.

Having little length; not long.

(legal) An answer to any action.

Having little height; not tall.

(legal) A memorandum of points of fact or of law for use in conducting a case.

Extending or traveling not far or not far enough

A position of interest or advocacy.

Lasting a brief time

(legal) An attorney's legal argument in written form for submission to a court.

Appearing to pass quickly

(English law) The material relevant to a case, delivered by a solicitor to the barrister who tries the case.

Not lengthy; succinct

A short news story or report.

Rudely brief; abrupt

Underwear briefs.

Easily provoked; irascible

(obsolete) A summary, précis or epitome; an abridgement or abstract.

Inadequate; insufficient

A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a collection or charitable contribution of money in churches, for any public or private purpose.

Lacking in length or amount

(slang) A ticket of any type.

Lacking in breadth or scope

(transitive) To summarize a recent development to some person with decision-making power.

Deficient in retentiveness

To write a legal argument and submit it to a court.

Holding a trading position that is inversely related to the price of a security or index

Briefly.

Of or relating to a short sale

Soon; quickly.

Containing a large amount of shortening; flaky

Short in duration.

Not ductile; brittle

Concise; terse; succinct.

(Linguistics) Of, relating to, or being a speech sound of relatively brief duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mălus, "evil," as compared with the same or a similar sound of relatively long duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mālus, "apple tree."

Rife; common; prevalent.

(Grammar) Of, relating to, or being a vowel sound in English, such as the vowel sound (ă) in pat or () in put, that is descended from a vowel of brief duration.

Briefly.

Being of relatively brief duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody.

Soon; quickly.

(Slang) Close to the end of a tour of military duty.

A short concise writing or letter; a statement in few words.

Abruptly; quickly

An epitome.

In a rude or curt manner.

An abridgment or concise statement of a client's case, made out for the instruction of counsel in a trial at law. This word is applied also to a statement of the heads or points of a law argument.

At a point before a given boundary, limit, or goal

A writ issuing from the chancery, directed to any judge ordinary, commanding and authorizing that judge to call a jury to inquire into the case, and upon their verdict to pronounce sentence.

At a disadvantage

A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a collection or charitable contribution of money in churches, for any public or private purpose.

By means of a short sale

A type of men's underpants without legs, fitting tightly and held by an elastic waistband; also called Jockey shorts.

(Linguistics) A short syllable, vowel, or consonant.

To make an abstract or abridgment of; to shorten; as, to brief pleadings.

A brief film; a short subject.

A document stating the facts and points of law of a client's case

A size of clothing less long than the average for that size.

A condensed written summary or abstract

Shorts Short pants extending to the knee or above.

Give essential information to someone;

Shorts Undershorts.

Of short duration or distance;

A short sale.

Concise and succinct;

One that sells short.

(of clothing) very short;

Shorts A byproduct of wheat processing that consists of germ, bran, and coarse meal or flour.

Shorts Clippings or trimmings that remain as byproducts in various manufacturing processes, often used to make an inferior variety of the product.

A short circuit.

A malfunction caused by a short circuit.

(Baseball) A shortstop.

To cause a short circuit in.

(Informal) To give (one) less than one is entitled to; shortchange.

To short-sell (a security or index).

To short-circuit.

Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.

(of a person) Of comparatively small height.

Having little duration.

(followed by for) Of a word or phrase, constituting an abbreviation (for another) or shortened form (of another).

That is relatively close to the batsman.

Bowled so that it bounces relatively far from the batsman.

That falls short of the green or the hole.

(gambling) Of betting odds, offering a small return for the money wagered.

Brittle, crumbly. See shortbread, shortcake, shortcrust, shortening, hot short, cold-short.

Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant.

Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.

Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied, especially with money; scantily furnished; lacking.

Deficient; less; not coming up to a measure or standard.

(colloquial) Undiluted; neat.

(obsolete) Not distant in time; near at hand.

(finance) Being in a financial investment position that is structured to be profitable if the price of the underlying security declines in the future.

(by extension) Doubtful of, skeptical of.

Of money: given in the fewest possible notes, i.e. those of the largest denomination.

Abruptly, curtly, briefly.

Unawares.

Without achieving a goal or requirement.

Relatively far from the batsman and hence bouncing higher than normal; opposite of full.

(finance) With a negative ownership position.

A short circuit.

A short film.

A short version of a garment in a particular size.

(baseball) A shortstop.

(finance) A short seller.

(finance) A short sale or short position.

A summary account.

(phonetics) A short sound, syllable, or vowel.

(programming) An integer variable having a smaller range than normal integers; usually two bytes long.

An automobile; especially in crack shorts, to break into automobiles.

(transitive) To cause a short circuit in (something).

To short circuit.

(transitive) To shortchange.

To provide with a smaller than agreed or labeled amount.

To sell something, especially securities, that one does not own at the moment for delivery at a later date in hopes of profiting from a decline in the price; to sell short.

(obsolete) To shorten.

Deficient in.

(finance) Having a negative position in.

Not long; having brief length or linear extension; as, a short distance; a short piece of timber; a short flight.

Not extended in time; having very limited duration; not protracted; as, short breath.

Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty; as, a short supply of provisions, or of water.

Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied; scantily furnished; lacking; not coming up to a resonable, or the ordinary, standard; - usually with of; as, to be short of money.

Deficient; defective; imperfect; not coming up, as to a measure or standard; as, an account which is short of the trith.

Not distant in time; near at hand.

Limited in intellectual power or grasp; not comprehensive; narrow; not tenacious, as memory.

Less important, efficaceous, or powerful; not equal or equivalent; less (than); - with of.

Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant; as, he gave a short answer to the question.

Breaking or crumbling readily in the mouth; crisp; as, short pastry.

Brittle.

Not prolonged, or relatively less prolonged, in utterance; - opposed to long, and applied to vowels or to syllables. In English, the long and short of the same letter are not, in most cases, the long and short of the same sound; thus, the i in ill is the short sound, not of i in isle, but of ee in eel, and the e in pet is the short sound of a in pate, etc. See Quantity, and Guide to Pronunciation, 22, 30.

A summary account.

The part of milled grain sifted out which is next finer than the bran.

Short, inferior hemp.

Breeches; shortclothes.

A short sound, syllable, or vowel.

In a short manner; briefly; limitedly; abruptly; quickly; as, to stop short in one's course; to turn short.

To shorten.

To fail; to decrease.

The location on a baseball field where the shortstop is stationed

Accidental contact between two points in an electric circuit that have a potential difference

The fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed between 2nd and 3rd base

Cheat someone by not returning him enough money

Create a short-circuit in

Primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration;

Primarily spatial sense; having little length or lacking in length;

Low in stature; not tall;

Not sufficient to meet a need;

Not holding securities or commodities that one sells in expectation of a fall in prices;

Of speech sounds (especially vowels) of relatively short duration (as e.g. the English vowel sounds in `pat', `pet', `pit', `pot', putt')

Containing a large amount of shortening; therefore tender and easy to crumble or break into flakes;

Less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so;

Used of syllables that are unaccented or of relatively brief duration

(of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range;

Lacking foresight or scope;

Unwilling to endure;

Quickly aroused to anger;

Most direct;

Marked by rude or peremptory shortness;

Quickly and without warning;

Without possessing something at the time it is contractually sold;

Clean across;

At some point or distance before a goal is reached;

So as to interrupt;

At a disadvantage;

Tightly;

In a curt, abrupt and discourteous manner;

Being brief is often viewed positively in contexts where efficiency and clarity are valued, though it may not be suitable in situations where depth and detail are important.

Yes, something can be both brief and short, especially if it is concise and to the point, yet also limited in duration or extent.

Not necessarily; effectiveness depends on the context and audience. Short communication might be seen as less comprehensive than brief communication, which is concise but complete.

Focus on clarity, prioritize key information, use concise language, and avoid unnecessary details while ensuring that all critical points are covered comprehensively.

Yes, a brief document can be comprehensive if it efficiently conveys all necessary information without extraneous detail, focusing on the essence of the content.

The perception can vary widely: in professional settings, being brief is often preferred for efficiency, while in personal or creative contexts, being too short might be seen as lacking.

Short can carry a neutral or negative connotation depending on context; it might imply insufficiency or simply denote limited size or duration without a value judgment.

Cultural norms and values can significantly impact communication styles; some cultures value direct and brief exchanges, while others may prefer more detailed and extended interactions.

Yes, industries such as law, business, journalism, and any field requiring clear, efficient decision-making often value the ability to communicate briefly.

Practice summarizing complex ideas into key points, actively edit for conciseness, and seek feedback to ensure clarity and completeness without unnecessary length.

Digital communication, with its emphasis on speed and efficiency, often encourages brief exchanges, due to the fast-paced nature of online interactions and character limits on some platforms.

Absolutely, many effective stories or narratives are engaging due to their focused plot and character development, demonstrating that brevity can enhance impact.

The main challenge is balancing the need for conciseness with the necessity of providing enough detail to accurately convey complex ideas or procedures.

In visual arts, a brief description might concisely convey the essence or interpretation of a piece, while a short description might lack depth or fail to capture the artwork's nuances.

Yes, if a meeting is too brief, it might overlook important discussions, questions, or clarifications, potentially leading to misunderstandings or incomplete resolutions.