brightness
Americannoun
-
the quality of being bright.
-
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
-
the condition of being bright
-
physics a former name for luminosity
-
psychol the experienced intensity of light
Etymology
Origin of brightness
before 950; Middle English brihtnes, Old English beorhtnes. See bright, -ness
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 Moon which will be almost at peak brightness, will also be in the sky, appearing very close to Jupiter making for striking viewing.
From BBC
By modeling subtle changes in the planet's brightness as it moves, researchers determined that intense gravitational forces from the much heavier pulsar are stretching the planet into its lemon-like shape.
From Science Daily
Measurements show that this distant supernova closely matches the brightness and spectral features of SN 1998bw, a well known supernova linked to a gamma ray burst that exploded much closer to Earth.
From Science Daily
My first impression was sunlight, a brightness that contrasted with the shade we stood in.
From Los Angeles Times
Instead of treating these stellar explosions as having one standard brightness, they adjusted for the ages of the galaxies they came from and worked out how bright the supernovas really were.
From BBC
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.
