brilliant

[ bril-yuhnt ]

adjective

1. shining brightly; sparkling; glittering; lustrous:

   the brilliant lights of the city.

2. distinguished; illustrious:

   a brilliant performance by a young pianist.

3. having or showing great intelligence, talent, quality, etc.:

   a brilliant technician.

4. strong and clear in tone; vivid; bright:

   brilliant blues and greens; the brilliant sound of the trumpets.

5. splendid or magnificent:

   a brilliant social event.

noun

1. Jewelry. a gem, especially a diamond, having any of several varieties of the brilliant cut.
2. Printing. a size of type about 3½-point.

brilliant

/ ˈbrɪljənt /

adjective

1. shining with light; sparkling
2. (of a colour) having a high saturation and reflecting a considerable amount of light; vivid
3. outstanding; exceptional

   a brilliant success

4. splendid; magnificent

   a brilliant show

5. of outstanding intelligence or intellect

   a brilliant idea

   a brilliant mind

6. music
   1. (of the tone of an instrument) having a large proportion of high harmonics above the fundamental
   2. Alsobrilliantbrijɑ̃brilliantebrijɑ̃t with spirit; lively

noun

1. Also calledbrilliant cut
   1. a popular circular cut for diamonds and other gemstones in the form of two many-faceted pyramids (the top one truncated) joined at their bases
   2. a diamond of this cut
2. (formerly) a size of a printer's type approximately equal to 4 point

Derived Forms

• ˈbrilliantly, adverb

Other Words From

• brilliant·ly adverb
• brilliant·ness noun
• over·brilliant adjective
• over·brilliant·ly adverb
• quasi-brilliant adjective
• quasi-brilliant·ly adverb
• un·brilliant adjective
• un·brilliant·ly adverb
• un·brilliant·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of brilliant¹

First recorded in 1675–85; from French brillant “shining,” present participle of briller “to shine,” from Italian brillare, perhaps either ultimately from Latin bēryllus beryl ( def ) or derivative of an expressive root

Word History and Origins

Origin of brilliant¹

C17: from French brillant shining, from briller to shine, from Italian brillare , from brillo beryl

Synonym Study

See bright.

Example Sentences

Fulham won this fixture last season and they had a brilliant win over Brighton last time out.

From BBC

And he has led his team from the front through something close to a crisis with their car performance during the summer, and out the other side, culminating in his brilliant, cathartic, career-defining and essentially title-winning victory in the wet in Brazil from 17th on the grid.

From BBC

“He’s much better now, he’s stabilized now, which is brilliant,” Dobson told the Mirror.

From Los Angeles Times

Dylan wrote in the post, in which he called Chalamet a “brilliant actor” who he trusts will “be completely believable as me. Or a younger me. Or some other me.”

From Los Angeles Times

He added that the "thought of anyone who has appeared on our show not having a brilliant experience is awful to hear".

From BBC

Related Words

• accomplished
• astute
• bright
• gifted
• ingenious
• inventive
• sharp
• smart
• talented