brilliant
AdjectiveOpen English WordNet
Adjective (6)
- of surpassing excellence“a brilliant performance”“a superb actor”Synonyms: superbOpposite inferiorSimilar superior
- having or marked by unusual and impressive intelligence“our project needs brainy women”“a brilliant mind”“a brilliant solution to the problem”Synonyms: brainysmart as a whipOpposite stupidSimilar intelligent
- characterized by grandeur“the brilliant court life at Versailles”“a glorious work of art”“magnificent cathedrals”“the splendid coronation ceremony”Synonyms: gloriousmagnificentsplendidOpposite unimpressiveSimilar impressive
- having strong or striking color“bright dress”“brilliant tapestries”“a bird with vivid plumage”Synonyms: brightvividOpposite colorlessSimilar colorful, colourful
- full of light; shining intensely“a brilliant star”“brilliant chandeliers”Opposite dullSimilar bright
- clear and sharp and ringing“the bright sound of the trumpet section”“the brilliant sound of the trumpets”Synonyms: brightOpposite nonresonantSimilar reverberant
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Adjective shining brightly
- Spanish
- brillante
- French
- brillant
- German
- brillant
- Italian
- brillante
- Russian
- блестя́щий blestjáščij
- Japanese
- 輝かしい kagayakashii
- Dutch
- briljant
- Polish
- błyszczący
- Swedish
- strålande
- Vietnamese
- rực rỡ
Adjective of surpassing excellence
- Spanish
- brillante
- French
- brillant
- German
- brillant
- Italian
- brillante
- Portuguese
- brilhante
- Russian
- блестя́щий blestjáščij
- Arabic
- لامع lāmiʕ
- Dutch
- briljant
- Polish
- błyskotliwy
- Vietnamese
- lỗi lạc
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: F. brillant, present participle of briller to shine or sparkle (cf. Pr. & Sp. brillar, It. brillare), fr. L. beryllus a precious stone of sea-green color, Prov. It. brill. See Beryl.
1. Sparkling with luster; glittering; very bright; as, a brilliant star.
2. Distinguished by qualities which excite admiration; splendid; shining; as, brilliant talents.
Washington was more solicitous to avoid fatal mistakes than to perform brilliant exploits.— Fisher Ames.
3. Exceedingly intelligent, or of distinguished accomplishment in a field; — as, a brilliant chemist.
Synonyms: See Shining.
Origin: F. brillant. See Brilliant, adjective
1. A diamond or other gem of the finest cut, formed into faces and facets, so as to reflect and refract the light, by which it is rendered more brilliant. It has at the middle, or top, a principal face, called the table, which is surrounded by a number of sloping facets forming a bizet; below, it has a small face or collet, parallel to the table, connected with the girdle by a pavilion of elongated facets. It is thus distinguished from the rose diamond, which is entirely covered with facets on the surface, and is flat below.
This snuffbox — on the hinge see brilliants shine.— Alexander Pope
2. Printing The smallest size of type used in England printing.
☞ This line is printed in the type called Brilliant.
3. A kind of cotton goods, figured on the weaving.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54 · with additions: GCIDE editors
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
One of five pedagogical languages based on Markov algorithms, used in ["Nonpareil, a Machine Level Machine Independent Language for the Study of Semantics", B. Higman, ULICS Intl Report No ICSI 170, U London (1968)].