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
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
Cold noodles need a dressing with enough substance to coat every curve and ridge, but enough brightness to keep the bowl from feeling stodgy after a few hours in the fridge.
From Salon • Jul. 8, 2026
All these are adorable accessories to the character’s brave insistence on betting on herself in a world of naysayers set on diminishing her brightness.
From Salon • Jul. 6, 2026
That regular cycle allows astronomers to determine their true brightness.
From Science Daily • Jul. 5, 2026
A much-rumoured Kylie duet doesn't appear on Confessions II, but this would have been the perfect track for it; all brightness and light, with a loved-up lyric about a "movie star with deep blue eyes".
From BBC • Jul. 2, 2026
In the brightness of the moonlight it was easy to see the forms of three cattle standing in the middle of the snowy field.
From "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
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.
