Dictionary Definition
brilliant adj
1 of surpassing excellence; "a brilliant
performance"; "a superb actor" [syn: superb]
2 having or marked by unusual and impressive
intelligence; "some men dislike brainy women"; "a brilliant mind";
"a brilliant solution to the problem" [syn: brainy, smart as
a whip]
3 characterized by or attended with brilliance or
grandeur; "the brilliant court life at Versailles"; "a glorious
work of art"; "magnificent cathedrals"; "the splendid coronation
ceremony" [syn: glorious, magnificent, splendid]
4 having striking color; "bright greens";
"brilliant tapestries"; "a bird with vivid plumage" [syn: bright, vivid]
5 full of light; shining intensely; "a brilliant
star"; "brilliant chandeliers"
6 clear and sharp and ringing; "the bright sound
of the trumpet section"; "the brilliant sound of the trumpets"
[syn: bright]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
Adjective
- shining brightly
- the brilliant lights along the promenade
- In the context of "of a colour": both light and saturated
- butterflies with brilliant blue wings
- In the context of "of a voice or sound": having a sharp, clear tone
- of surpassing excellence (primarily UK
usage)
- The actor's performance in the play was simply brilliant.
- magnificent or wonderful (primarily UK usage)
- highly intelligent
- She is a brilliant scientist.
Synonyms
- (shining brightly): glittering, shining
- (of a colour: both light and saturated):
- (of a voice or sound: having a sharp, clear tone):
- (surpassing excellence): excellent, distinctive, striking, superb (primarily UK usage)
- (magnificent or wonderful): exceptional, glorious, magnificent, marvellous/marvelous, splendid, wonderful (primarily UK usage)
- (highly intelligent): brainy, ingenious
Translations
shining brightly
- Chinese traditional/simplified: 燦爛, 灿烂 (chán làn)
- Dutch: stralend
- Finnish: loistava, säteilevä
- French: brillant , brillante
- German: strahlend
- Hebrew: מבריק (mavryq) , מבריקה (mavriqa)
- Italian: brillante and
- Norwegian: lysende, strålende
- Portuguese: brilhante m|f
- Russian: блестящий (bl'est'áščij), сверкающий (sv'erkájuščij)
- Swedish: lysande, glänsande, gnistrande, strålande
of a colour: both light and saturated
of a voice or sound: having a sharp, clear tone
surpassing excellence (primarily UK usage)
- Chinese traditional/simplified: 出色的, 出色的 (chū sè de)
- Dutch: briljant, meesterlijk, virtuoos
- Finnish: loistava
- French: brillant , brillante
- German: brillant
- Italian: brillante and
- Norwegian: enestående, genial
- Portuguese: brilhante m|f
- Russian: блестящий (bl'est'áščij), блистательный (blistátel'nyj)
- Swedish: mästerlig, virtuosmässig
magnificent or wonderful (primarily UK usage)
- Chinese traditional/simplified: 輝煌的, 辉煌的 (huī huáng de)
- Dutch: briljant, schitterend
- Finnish: loistava
- French: brillant , brillante
- German: brillant
- Italian: brillante and
- Norwegian: enestående, storslagen
- Portuguese: brilhante m|f
- Russian: блестящий (bl'est'áščij), великолепный (velikol'épnyj)
- Swedish: briljant, lysande, strålande, storslagen
highly intelligent
- Chinese traditional/simplified: 英明的, 英明的 (yīng míng de)
- Dutch: briljant, geniaal
- Finnish: nerokas
- French: brillant , brillante
- German: genial, brillant
- Hebrew: מבריק (mavryq) , מבריקה (mavriqa)
- Norwegian: enestående, genial
- Portuguese: brilhante m|f
- Russian: блестящий (bl'est'áščij)
- Swedish: briljant, genialisk, högt begåvad
Related terms
Noun
Translations
finely cut gemstone
Crimean Tatar
Etymology
brillant.Noun
brilliantDeclension
References
Extensive Definition
Brilliant may refer to:
- Brilliant (diamond cut), a form of cutting a diamond
- HMS Brilliant, eight ships of the British Royal Navy
- Brilliant, Alabama, a town in the United States of America
- Brilliant, Ohio, a town in the United States of America
- Brilliant, British Columbia, a community near Castlegar, British Columbia
People
- Mary Jane Challen
- "Brilliant", a pseudonym used by Grigory Sokolnikov
- Dr. Larry Brilliant
- Brilliant Dadashova, an Azerbaijani pop singer
Entertainment
- Brilliant!, the name The Fast Show was given when it was shown on BBC America
- Brilliant (band), a British pop/rock group active in the 1980s
- Brilliant, a 1950s cartoon character in the Dick Tracy comic strip
- Brillant (disambiguation)
brilliant in German: Brilliant
brilliant in Volapük: Brilliant
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Attic,
Daedalian, able, accomplished, adept, adroit, apt, artistic, authoritative, beaming, beautiful, bedazzling, biting, blinding, blooming, brainy, bravura, bright, bright and shining,
bright-hued, brim, brink, burning, celebrated, charismatic, clean, clever, colorful, colory, competent, coordinated, coruscating, crack, crackerjack, creative, cunning, cute, daedal, dazzling, deep-colored,
deft, devastating, dexterous, dextrous, diplomatic, discerning, distinguished, divine, droll, edge, effulgent, eminent, enlightened, erudite, excellent, exceptional, exotic, expert, facetious, famous, fancy, flamboyant, flaming, fringe, fulgent, fulgid, funny, garish, gay, gay-colored, gifted, glamorous, glaring, glary, glittering, glorious, glowing, good, goodish, gorgeous, graceful, handy, heavenly, hem, high-colored, humorous, humorsome, illustrious, imaginative, incandescent, ingenious, intelligent, intense, jesting, jocose, jocular, joking, joky, joshing, keen, keen-witted, killing, knowing, knowledgeable, lambent, learned, lucent, luminous, lustrous, magic, magisterial, magnificent, margin, masterful, masterly, mordant, neat, nimble, nimble-witted, no
dumbbell, no mean, not born yesterday, noted, numinous, outstanding, perimeter, periphery, pointed, politic, professional, proficient, prominent, pungent, quick, quick-thinking,
quick-witted, quite some, radiant, rapier-like, raving, ravishing, ready, refulgent, remarkable, renowned, resourceful, resplendent, rich, rich-colored, sage, salt, salty, scintillating, sharp, sharp-witted, shining, skillful, skirt, slick, smart, some, sparkling, splendent, splendid, splendorous, splendrous, sprightly, statesmanlike, steel-trap,
striking, stunning, stylish, sublime, superb, tactful, talented, the compleat, the
complete, twinkling,
verge, virtuoso, vivid, well-done, whimsical, wise, witty, workmanlike