Wiktionary

briny

English

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Etymology

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Etymology tree
English brine
Proto-Indo-European *-kos
Proto-Germanic *-gaz
Proto-West Germanic *-g
Old English -iġ
Middle English -y
English -y
English briny

    From brine + -y.

    Pronunciation

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    Adjective

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    briny (comparative brinier or more briny, superlative briniest or most briny)

    1. Of, pertaining to, resembling or containing brine; salty.
      on the briny deep
    2. (figurative) Acerbic; unsentimental.
      • 2026 January 19, Dwight Garner, “A Briny Englishman (and Booker Prize Winner) Says Farewell”, in The New York Times Book Review‎[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
        [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.
        (Can we archive this URL?)

    Derived terms

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    Translations

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    Noun

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    the briny

    1. (slang) The sea.
      • 1923, Ernest Bramah, The Eyes of Max Carrados:
        That afternoon Mr Slater had been for what he termed "a blow of the briny," as his custom was on a fine day. He was returning in the dusk and had crossed the spacious promenade when, at a corner, he almost ran into the broad figure of a policeman who stood talking to a woman on the path.
      • 1978, Elvis Costello, “Crawling To The U.S.A.”, performed by Elvis Costello & The Attractions:
        I thought I would go to the sea and shrink down very tiny / And slide inside the telephone wire that runs under the briny

    Translations

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    Cornish

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    Alternative forms

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    Noun

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    briny m pl

    1. plural of bran (“crow”)
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