brilliant

[ bril-yuhnt ]

See synonyms for: brilliant brilliants brilliantly on Thesaurus.com

adjective

shining brightly; sparkling; glittering; lustrous: the brilliant lights of the city.
distinguished; illustrious: a brilliant performance by a young pianist.

having or showing great intelligence, talent, quality, etc.: a brilliant technician.
strong and clear in tone; vivid; bright: brilliant blues and greens; the brilliant sound of the trumpets.
splendid or magnificent: a brilliant social event.

noun

Jewelry. a gem, especially a diamond, having any of several varieties of the brilliant cut.
Printing. a size of type about 3½-point.

Origin of brilliant

First recorded in 1675–85; from French brillant “shining,” present participle of briller “to shine,” from Italian brillare, perhaps either ultimately from Latin bēryllus beryl or derivative of an expressive root

synonym study For brilliant

1. See bright.

Other words from brilliant

bril·liant·ly, adverb
bril·liant·ness, noun
o·ver·bril·liant, adjective
o·ver·bril·liant·ly, adverb
quasi-brilliant, adjective
qua·si-bril·liant·ly, adverb
un·bril·liant, adjective
un·bril·liant·ly, adverb
un·bril·liant·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use brilliant in a sentence

Another brilliant community development came from the other side of the world.
Can artificial intelligence give elephants a winning edge? | Walter Thompson | November 20, 2020 | TechCrunch
Reading her can feel like talking all night with a brilliant friend.
Reading Nicole Krauss’s ‘To Be a Man’ feels like talking all night with a brilliant friend | Joan Frank | November 5, 2020 | Washington Post
When shopping for a bike, says Lo, anything that fits is likely to be brilliant—because in the bike world, “everything is golden right now,” she says.
Short Cyclists Can Rip on 29ers, Too | Kelly Bastone | October 28, 2020 | Outside Online
“I thought it was really brilliant” to confirm the presence of water on the moon with observations at this wavelength, says Jessica Sunshine, a planetary scientist at the University of Maryland in College Park.
Water exists on sunny parts of the moon, scientists confirm | Maria Temming | October 26, 2020 | Science News
I shot photos right at sunset here in New Mexico and was impressed with how the phone captured plenty of information in the foreground shadows while still allowing for a bright, brilliant sun.
The iPhone 12 Pro Is Once Again a Great Pocket Camera | Jakob Schiller | October 21, 2020 | Outside Online

The writing team behind these videos are some seriously mad comedy crackheads, and they manage some brilliantly irrational bits.
There Are More 'Too Many Cooks' Where That First Fever Dream Came From | Kevin Fallon | November 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Spall plays him brilliantly as a grumbling, grunting beast of a man whose sensitivity and kindness emerges slowly.
Mike Leigh Is the Master Filmmaker Who Hates Hollywood | Nico Hines | October 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Brilliantly, the VA hangs the original alongside the retouched version.
How Horst Captured Dietrich, Rita Hayworth, and Vivien Leigh—and Changed Fashion Photography | Patrick Strudwick | September 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The local churches were celebrating The Feast of Corpus Christi by launching brilliantly exploding rockets into the night.
Spirit Tripping With Colombian Shamans | Chris Allbritton | August 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Alan Cumming shimmered darkly and brilliantly as the emcee in the Cabaret performance.
Hugh Jackman's Tony Jumping Fail, Plus the Winners and Standout Moments of Broadway's Biggest Night | Tim Teeman | June 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Two many-branched candelabra, holding wax lights, brilliantly illuminate the game.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James Wills
Equipage after equipage began to roll up to the palace, and set down the most brilliantly attired company of both sexes.
A Woman's Journey Round the World | Ida Pfeiffer
He was, moreover, brilliantly educated and accomplished, and the most finished specimen of the man of the world I had met.
Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
Coming back found mess tent brilliantly lit up and my staff entertaining their friends.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I | Ian Hamilton
All houses were to be brilliantly lighted in the evening, that the search might be more effectually conducted.
Madame Roland, Makers of History | John S. C. Abbott

British Dictionary definitions for brilliant

brilliant

/ (ˈbrɪljənt) /

adjective

shining with light; sparkling
(of a colour) having a high saturation and reflecting a considerable amount of light; vivid

outstanding; exceptional: a brilliant success
splendid; magnificent: a brilliant show
of outstanding intelligence or intellect: a brilliant mind; a brilliant idea
music
- (of the tone of an instrument) having a large proportion of high harmonics above the fundamental
- Also: brilliant (French brijɑ̃), brilliante (French brijɑ̃t) with spirit; lively

noun

Also called: brilliant cut
- a popular circular cut for diamonds and other gemstones in the form of two many-faceted pyramids (the top one truncated) joined at their bases
- a diamond of this cut
(formerly) a size of a printer's type approximately equal to 4 point

Origin of brilliant

C17: from French brillant shining, from briller to shine, from Italian brillare, from brillo beryl

Derived forms of brilliant

brilliantly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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