brilliant

[ bril-yuh nt ]

/ ˈbrɪl yənt /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR brilliant 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

1675–85; < French brillant shining, present participle of briller < Italian brillare to glitter (perhaps derivative of an expressive root); see -ant

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

qua·si-bril·liant, adjective qua·si-bril·liant·ly, adverb un·bril·liant, adjective un·bril·liant·ly, adverb un·bril·liant·ness, noun

Words nearby brilliant

brill-symmers disease, brill-zinsser disease, brillat-savarin, brilliance, brilliancy, brilliant, brilliant cresyl blue, brilliant cut, brilliant green, brilliantine, brillo

Example sentences from the Web for brilliantly

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 |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 |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 |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 |DAILY BEAST

No one does either as brilliantly or eloquently as Sandra Bullock.

Best Oscar Speeches of All Time: Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep & More |Kevin Fallon |March 2, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
He was staring down a brilliantly lighted, richly carpeted corridor.

The Adventures of Jimmie Dale |Frank L. Packard
That seems to me a brilliantly daring and delightful thing for her to say, and jolly of her to use my Christian name too!

The Passionate Friends |Herbert George Wells
They had been days of fine weather, brilliantly clear autumn days of blue sky and exhilarating air.

The Nebuly Coat |John Meade Falkner
They were approaching a brilliantly lighted saloon at the time, and Bert halted his companions with a gesture.

Bert Wilson on the Gridiron |J. W. Duffield
Error has no hobby, however boldly ridden or brilliantly caparisoned, that can leap into the sanctum of Christian Science.

No and Yes |Mary Baker Eddy

British Dictionary definitions for brilliantly

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

Derived forms of brilliant

brilliantly, adverb

Word Origin for brilliant

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

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

brilliant

adjective

noun

Origin of brilliant

synonym study for brilliant

OTHER WORDS FROM brilliant

Words nearby brilliant

Example sentences from the Web for brilliantly

British Dictionary definitions for brilliantly

adjective

noun

Derived forms of brilliant

Word Origin for brilliant

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

brilliant

adjective

noun

Origin of brilliant

synonym study for brilliant

OTHER WORDS FROM brilliant

Words nearby brilliant

Words related to brilliantly

Example sentences from the Web for brilliantly

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []) .push({}); British Dictionary definitions for brilliantly

adjective

noun

Derived forms of brilliant

Word Origin for brilliant

British Dictionary definitions for brilliantly