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
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.
Engineers will later process the flyby images by adjusting brightness and contrast, and they expect to create a time-lapse sequence of the event in the weeks ahead.
From Science Daily • May 11, 2026
Instead, they measure subtle changes in brightness from the combined light of the star and the orbiting planet as it moves.
From Science Daily • May 5, 2026
I need something that moves with me — something that honors the impulse to decide, mid-meal, you know what, this needs a little brightness, and makes it effortless to follow through.
From Salon • Apr. 21, 2026
Distinctive features of the Lyrids are their colours and brightness, along with exceptionally bright fireballs from time to time, outshining the planet Venus.
From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026
As she walked along the rising road that bordered the sea, Lupita’s eyes smarted from the sharp brightness of the blue water and the white surf curling onto the beach many feet below.
From "Lupita Mañana" by Patricia Beatty
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.
