Adjacent Words

Brilliant definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BRILL'IANT, a. [Eng. beryl and pearl.]
1. Sparkling with luster; glittering; as a brilliant gem; a brilliant dress.
2. Splendid; shining; as a brilliant achievement.
Washington was more solicitous to avoid fatal mistakes,than to perform brilliant exploits.
BRILL'IANT, n. A diamond of the finest cut, formed into angles, so as to refract the light, by which it is rendered more glittering.
1. In the manege, a brisk,high-spirited horse,with a stately carriage.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: of surpassing excellence; "a brilliant performance"; "a superb actor" [syn: brilliant, 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, brilliant, smart as a whip]
3: characterized by grandeur; "the brilliant court life at Versailles"; "a glorious work of art"; "magnificent cathedrals"; "the splendid coronation ceremony" [syn: brilliant, glorious, magnificent, splendid]
4: having striking color; "bright dress"; "brilliant tapestries"; "a bird with vivid plumage" [syn: bright, brilliant, 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, brilliant]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: French brillant, present participle of briller to shine, from Italian brillare Date: 1696 1. very bright ; glittering <a brilliant light> 2. a. striking, distinctive <a brilliant example> b. distinguished by unusual mental keenness or alertness Synonyms: see bright • brilliantly adverb II. noun Date: 1690 a gem (as a diamond) cut in a particular form with numerous facets so as to have special brilliance

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 very bright; sparkling. 2 outstandingly talented or intelligent. 3 showy; outwardly impressive. 4 colloq. excellent, superb. --n. a diamond of the finest cut with many facets. Derivatives: brilliantly adv. Etymology: F brillant part. of briller shine f. It. brillare, of unkn. orig.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Brilliant Bril"liant, n. [F. brillant. See Brilliant, a.] 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. --Pope. 2. (Print.) The smallest size of type used in England printing. Note: This line is printed in the type called Brilliant. 3. A kind of cotton goods, figured on the weaving.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Brilliant Bril"liant (br[i^]l"yant), a. [F. brillant, p. pr. 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. Syn: See Shining.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A brilliant person, idea, or performance is extremely clever or skilful. She had a brilliant mind... It was his brilliant performance in 'My Left Foot' that established his reputation. ADJ: usu ADJ n • brilliantly It is a very high quality production, brilliantly written and acted. ADV: usu ADV with v, also ADV adj • brilliance He was a deeply serious musician who had shown his brilliance very early. N-UNCOUNT: oft with poss 2. You can say that something is brilliant when you are very pleased about it or think that it is very good. (mainly BRIT INFORMAL, SPOKEN) If you get a chance to see the show, do go–it's brilliant... My sister's given me this brilliant book. = great ? awful ADJ • brilliantly It's extremely hard working together but on the whole it works brilliantly and we're still good friends. ADV: ADV with v, ADV adj/adv 3. A brilliant career or success is very successful. He served four years in prison, emerging to find his brilliant career in ruins... The raid was a brilliant success. ADJ: usu ADJ n • brilliantly The strategy worked brilliantly. ADV 4. A brilliant colour is extremely bright. ...a brilliant white open-necked shirt. ADJ: ADJ n • brilliantly Many of the patterns show brilliantly coloured flowers. ADV: ADV adj/-ed • brilliance ...an iridescent blue butterfly in all its brilliance. 5. You describe light, or something that reflects light, as brilliant when it shines very brightly. The event was held in brilliant sunshine... ADJ • brilliantly It's a brilliantly sunny morning. ADV: ADV adj/-ed, ADV after v • brilliance His eyes became accustomed to the dark after the brilliance of the sun outside.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Sparkling, glittering, splendid, lustrous, shining, bright, beaming, radiant, effulgent, refulgent, resplendent, glistening, gleaming. See bright, 1. 2. Illustrious, glorious, celebrated, famous, renowned, distinguished, eminent, admirable. 3. Striking, prominent, decided, unusual, impressive, signal, dazzling. II. n. Diamond (cut into facets).

Moby Thesaurus

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