bright idea

Idioms  

1. A clever thought or plan. For example, John had a bright idea for saving space—we would each have a terminal but share the printer. This term uses bright in the sense of “intelligent” or “quick-witted” and may be employed either straightforwardly, as in the example above, or ironically, as in Jumping in the pool with your clothes on—that was some bright idea. [Late 1800s]

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bright idea

A bright idea - the image getting across is that William is just an ordinary Joe.

From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2025

“In 1999 after Yahoo and America Online had already gone up like tenfold, I got the bright idea at Soros to short internet stocks.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2025

Add the bright idea of having Harris sit down with Barrymore to that column.

From Salon ● May 1, 2024

Here’s another new year, though, and I got the bright idea to make a list of things I will NOT do, which suggests a better chance of success.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 3, 2024

Then Mom got the bright idea that his family should come for dinner.

From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements