bright
adjective
radiating or reflecting light; luminous; shining.
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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:
Locally, Los Angeles Unified and Compton Unified remained bright spots, with significant sustained gains that continue their surge past prepandemic levels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
"Smart glasses should make their recording obvious -- for instance with bright LED lights, audio signals or voice activation cues, privacy-friendly smartphone notifications, or unique designs," Talus said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026
The sun was bright, the mood ebullient and the campus lively ahead of a football game weekend.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
The family of a man who was killed by a tiger after he entered its enclosure at a wildlife park has paid tribute, describing him as "bright, warm and engaging".
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
The sun was bright, everything was moving well, and the dogs had settled into the rhythm that could take them a hundred or a thousand miles.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
That project culminated two years ago in Loper Bright v.
From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026
“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
Remarkably Bright Creatures, a drama starring Sally Field and Lewis Pullman about a perceptive octopus who observes the staff in his aquarium, won best movie.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
At the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, good table manners were serious business.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
On the brighter side, economists point to the U.K.’s skilled talent base, top-tier universities and venture capital money flowing through London’s financial district as reasons to see the country as a fertile ground for AI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Four games into the new World Cup cycle, that future may be brighter — and closer — than ever.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
For some supernovae, these graphs form a rounded, bell-like shape as the exploding star grows brighter and then gradually fades.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
Monday is likely to be a fairly grey day along with patchy rain and hill fog but brighter spells should develop later in the day for some areas.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
But the sun suddenly feels a lot brighter.
From "Zara’s Rules for Record-Breaking Fun" by Hena Khan
But, even with the Dodgers’ star-studded lineup, the spotlight shines brightest on Ohtani.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
It was a setback for a player who had been a regular England youth international and one of West Bromwich Albion's brightest academy prospects.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
“You have to oversee the implementation of the big ideas, hire the best and brightest, provide example, energy, inspiration.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Ariel is the brightest of Uranus' moons and the second closest to the planet.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026
I gave a talk at Harvard Law School a few months ago and laid out this idea to a group of some of the country’s brightest young minds.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
