brightness
Americannoun
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the quality of being bright.
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Optics. the luminance of a body, apart from its hue or saturation, that an observer uses to determine the comparative luminance of another body. Pure white has the maximum brightness, and pure black the minimum brightness.
noun
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the condition of being bright
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physics a former name for luminosity
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psychol the experienced intensity of light
Etymology
Origin of brightness
before 950; Middle English brihtnes, Old English beorhtnes. See bright, -ness
Vocabulary lists containing brightness
Space Science (Astronomy) - Introductory
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Physics - Introductory
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Physics - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The imaging results revealed both brightness and phase changes within the plasma channel, including the formation of a dense free-electron plasma that affects how light is absorbed and how it travels through water.
From Science Daily • Apr. 21, 2026
Distinctive features of the Lyrids are their colours and brightness - along with exceptionally bright fireballs from time to time, outshining the planet Venus.
From BBC • Apr. 21, 2026
Distinctive features of the Lyrids are their colours and brightness, along with exceptionally bright fireballs from time to time, outshining the planet Venus.
From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026
For brightness, add lemon zest — the aromatic lift without the watery slack.
From Salon • Apr. 14, 2026
But what mattered most in Tycho’s day was not its brightness but its newness.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
