different between icy vs brisk

English

Alternative forms

• icey (rare)
• ycie (obsolete)

Etymology

ice +? -y; cf. Old English ?si?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?a?si/

Adjective

icy (comparative icier, superlative iciest)

1. Pertaining to, resembling, or abounding in ice; cold; frosty.
2. Covered with ice, wholly or partially.
3. Characterized by coldness of manner; frigid; cold.
   • 2009, Sharon Kendrick, The Desert Princes Bundle: The Sheikh's English Bride

     Gone was the gleam of desire, and the teasingly provocative remarks, and Alexa realised the truth in the saying that indifference was death. His demeanour was haughty and icy towards her.

4. (US, slang) To be wearing an excessive amount of jewelry, especially of the high-quality and expensive kind.

Related terms

• icily
• iciness

Translations

References

• icy in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• icy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• CyI

Middle French

Adverb

icy

1. here

Descendants

• French: ici

English

Etymology

Uncertain. Compare Welsh brwysg and French brusque.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b??sk/
• Rhymes: -?sk

Adjective

brisk (comparative brisker or more brisk, superlative briskest or most brisk)

1. Full of liveliness and activity; characterized by quickness of motion or action

   Synonyms: lively, spirited, quick

   We took a brisk walk yesterday.
2. Full of spirit of life; effervescing
3. (archaic) sparkling; fizzy

   brisk cider

4. Stimulating or invigorating.

   This morning was a brisk fall day. It wasn't cold enough for frost, but you wanted to keep moving.
5. Abrupt, curt in one's manner or in relation to others.
   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, ch. 15

     Her manner was brisk, and her good-breeding scarcely concealed her conviction that if you were not a soldier you might as well be a counter-jumper.

Translations

See also

• brusque

Verb

brisk (third-person singular simple present brisks, present participle brisking, simple past and past participle brisked)

1. (transitive, intransitive, often with "up") To make or become lively; to enliven; to animate.

Further reading

• brisk in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• brisk in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• brisk at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Birks, birks

Albanian

Etymology

From brej, possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *bhrisqo- (“bitter”). Compare Norwegian brisk (“bitter taste”), brisken (“bitter, sharp”), Welsh brysg, French brusque, Russian ????????? (brezgát?, “nauseate, feel disgust”), English brisk.

Noun

brisk m

1. razor
2. sharp, smart, keen, freezing cold

Lithuanian

Alternative forms

• briski

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [b?r??s?k]

Verb

brìsk

1. second-person singular imperative of bristi

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Possibly onomatopoetic of the sound made when put on fire.

Noun

brisk m (definite singular brisken, indefinite plural briskar, definite plural briskane)

1. juniper

Synonyms

• brake, einer

Etymology 2

From Middle Low German britse, britsche, briske.

Noun

brisk m (definite singular brisken, indefinite plural briskar, definite plural briskane)

1. a wall-bound sleeping bench

References