bright
adjective
radiating or reflecting light; luminous; shining.
bright
1 American
[brahyt]
/ braɪt /
adjective
-
brighter,
comparative
-
brightest
superlative
-
radiating or reflecting light; luminous; shining.
The bright coins shone in the gloom.
-
filled with light.
The room was bright with sunshine.
-
vivid or brilliant.
a bright red dress;
bright passages of prose.
-
quick-witted or intelligent.
They gave promotions to bright employees.
- Synonyms:
- clever, ingenious, sharp-witted, sharp, discerning, keen
-
clever or witty, as a remark.
Bright comments enlivened the conversation.
-
animated; lively; cheerful.
a bright and happy child;
a bird's bright song.
-
characterized by happiness or gladness.
All the world seems bright and gay.
-
favorable or auspicious.
bright prospects for the future.
- Synonyms:
- promising
-
radiant or splendid.
the bright pageantry of court.
-
illustrious or glorious, as an era.
the bright days of the Renaissance.
-
clear or translucent, as liquid.
The bright water trickled through his fingers.
-
having a glossy, glazed, or polished finish.
-
intensely clear and vibrant in tone or quality; clear and sharp in sound.
a bright singing voice.
noun
-
brights,
-
the automobile or truck headlights used for driving at night or under conditions of decreased visibility.
-
the brighter level of intensity of these lights, usually deflected upward by switching on a bulb in the headlamp that strikes the lens at a different angle.
-
-
flue-cured, light-hued tobacco.
-
an artist's paintbrush having short, square-edged bristles.
-
Archaic. brightness; splendor.
adverb
brighter,
brightest
Bright
2
American
[brahyt]
/ braɪt /
noun
-
John, 1811–89, British statesman and economist.
-
Richard, 1789–1858, English physician.
bright
1
British
/ braɪt /
adjective
-
emitting or reflecting much light; shining
-
(of colours) intense or vivid
-
full of promise
a bright future
-
full of animation; cheerful
a bright face
-
informal quick witted or clever
a bright child
-
magnificent; glorious
a bright victory
-
polished; glistening
a bright finish
-
(of the voice) distinct and clear
-
(of a liquid) translucent and clear
a circle of bright water
-
very early in the morning
noun
-
a thin flat paintbrush with a straight sharp edge used for highlighting in oil painting
-
poetic brightness or splendour
the bright of his armour
adverb
Bright
2
British
/ braɪt /
noun
bright
Idioms
Synonym Usage
Bright, brilliant, radiant, shining refer to that which gives forth, is filled with, or reflects light. Bright suggests the general idea: bright flare, stars, mirror. Brilliant implies a strong, unusual, or sparkling brightness, often changeful or varied and too strong to be agreeable: brilliant sunlight. Radiant implies the pouring forth of steady rays of light, especially as are agreeable to the eyes: a radiant face. Shining implies giving forth or reflecting a strong or steady light: shining eyes.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
overbrightnessnoun
-
unbrightnessnoun
-
brightishadjective
-
overbrightadjective
-
superbrightadjective
-
unbrightadjective
-
brightlyadverb
-
overbrightlyadverb
-
unbrightlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of bright
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English breht, beorht; cognate with Gothic bairht(s), Old Saxon ber(a)ht, Old High German beraht, Old Norse bjartr; Welsh berth “splendid”; akin to Latin flagrāre “to blaze” ( see flagrant ( def. )), Albanian bardhë “white,” Sanskrit bhrājate “it shines”
Explanation
After a long, gray winter, it's hard to remember what a bright, sunny day is like. Bright means shining with light. The adjective bright is good for describing anything that emits, reflects, or is full of light — like the bright moon, the bright sky or the bright, well-lit room. Bright can also mean vivid or vibrant — such as a bright purple three-piece suit. More figuratively, bright means "full of hope or possibility" — like your bright future as a marine biologist.
Vocabulary lists containing bright
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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.
See Examples For:
At the same time, cerebrospinal fluid and ventricular volumes increased, as did white matter hyperintensities, which appear as bright spots on MRI scans and can indicate tissue damage.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026
The company’s foodservice business was a bright spot in the quarter, posting 2% sales growth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
One bright spot was Oceania, including Australia and New Zealand, where 66 percent of the population enjoyed "good" ozone levels and 34 percent lived under "fair" conditions.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
Out the back there is a rat-pack set of bright young English-qualified things.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
The moon is giant, bright, and a movie-theater-butter yellow.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
“Mortgage rates of 8% are not an impossibility,” Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS, told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
Bright sea ice reflects much of the Sun's incoming energy, while darker ocean water absorbs more of it.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026
Bright cameo as he pushes for a start.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
The floods hit the iconic US park's Bright Angel Canyon and Phantom Ranch area on Saturday afternoon, forcing dozens of people to evacuate and damaging the sole water pipeline serving the area.
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
I shushed him with mock indignance though secretly enjoying myself because I couldn’t deny it—not to Bright, anyway; he was too smart for that— Kekeli had my heart.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
Because lead absorbs far more X rays, letters appeared as bright marks against the darker carbonized material, similar to brighter regions on an underexposed black and white negative.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
The current forecast suggests Saturday could bring some drier and brighter weather, particularly across parts of England.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
The middle section—called a bridge or release—opens onto pivotal chords, a harmonic highway that lifts the song to a brighter emotional plane.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
On Tuesday, he struck a brighter tone as he and the mayor celebrated breaking ground on the recreation center, which will include sports fields, tennis courts and a gym.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
I open my eyes and see that my hands are glowing brighter than the rest of me.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
They show them the Moon's craters, Saturn's rings, Vega - the brightest star in the night sky - and other planets, using laser pointers to trace constellations and objects visible to the naked eye.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
Ariel is the brightest of Uranus' moons and the second closest to the planet.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026
The main airport in Nashville, Tennessee, the home of country music, is to be renamed after one of its brightest stars, the late Dolly Parton who died last month.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
Many of China’s brightest computer-engineering students come to the U.S. for educational opportunities, then stay to build careers in American tech.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
The putative best and brightest on Morgan Stanley’s bond trading floor lobbied to join him.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
