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briny

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briny¹

  • /ˈbɹaɪni/ US, UK

Rhymes with -aɪni

Where it comes from

The adjective is from brine (noun) + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the quality of’).

The noun is from the adjective.

adjective brinier · more briny · briniest · most briny

  1. Of, relating to, resembling, or containing brine (“water saturated or strongly impregnated with salt”), such as seawater or tears; salty. on the briny deep

    Opposite: unbriny

  2. figuratively Of a person: difficult to get along with or to like; acerbic, prickly, unlikable. [Julian] Barnes wrote "Nothing to Be Frightened Of" when he was 62. He just turned 80. This briny English writer, author of "Flaubert's Parrot" (1984) and a winner of the Booker Prize, for "The Sense of an Ending" (2011), now has a rare form of blood cancer, treatable but exhausting and uncurable.

noun the briny

  1. humorous, informal The ocean, the sea. "[…] [H]e was seen at t'other side of the briny, this morning." / "In France, Sir?"—continued Martha, clasping her hands.

briny²

  • /ˈbɹaɪni/ US, UK

Rhymes with -aɪni

Where it comes from

Origin uncertain, possibly from Middle English brine (“act of burning; fire”, noun), from Old English bryne (“act of burning; fire, flame; heat”), from Proto-Germanic *bruniz (“act of burning; fire”), from *brinnaną (“to be on fire, burn”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- (“to boil; to brew”).

adjective more briny · most briny

  1. archaic, obsolete Especially of the sea: phosphorescent, shining. [S]omevvhat before a tempeſt, if the ſea-vvater bee flaſhed vvith a ſticke or Oare, the ſame caſteth a bright ſhining colour, and the drops thereof reſemble ſparekles of fire, as if the vvaues vvere turned into flames, vvhich the Saylers terms Briny.

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MLA

"briny." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/briny. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

briny. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/briny

Chicago

"briny." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/briny.

BibTeX
@misc{briny_2026,
  title = {briny},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/briny},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}