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BRILLIANT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Full of light; shining intensely
Example:
brilliant chandeliers
Classified under:
Similar:
bright (emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts)
Derivation:
brilliance (a light within the field of vision that is brighter than the brightness to which the eyes are adapted)
brilliancy (a quality that outshines the usual)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Having strong or striking color
Example:
a bird with vivid plumage
Synonyms:
bright; brilliant; vivid
Classified under:
Similar:
colorful; colourful (having much or varied color)
Derivation:
brilliancy (a quality that outshines the usual)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Characterized by grandeur
Example:
the splendid coronation ceremony
Synonyms:
brilliant; glorious; magnificent; splendid
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
impressive (making a strong or vivid impression)
Derivation:
brilliance (the quality of being magnificent or splendid or grand)
brilliancy (a quality that outshines the usual)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Having or marked by unusual and impressive intelligence
Example:
a brilliant solution to the problem
Synonyms:
brainy; brilliant; smart as a whip
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
intelligent (having the capacity for thought and reason especially to a high degree)
Derivation:
brilliance (unusual mental ability)
brilliancy (a quality that outshines the usual)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Clear and sharp and ringing
Example:
the brilliant sound of the trumpets
Synonyms:
bright; brilliant
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
reverberant (having a tendency to reverberate or be repeatedly reflected)
Derivation:
brilliancy (a quality that outshines the usual)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Of surpassing excellence
Example:
a superb actor
Synonyms:
brilliant; superb
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
superior (of high or superior quality or performance)
Derivation:
brilliance (the quality of being magnificent or splendid or grand)
brilliancy (a quality that outshines the usual)
Context examples:
The evening sun shone upon the brilliant stones; they glittered and sparkled with all colours so beautifully that the children stood still and stared at them.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
Its salts are used to give fireworks a brilliant red colour.
(First identification of a heavy element born from neutron star collision, ESO)
Planets around other stars, called exoplanets, are barely perceptible next to their brilliant stars.
(Lone Planetary-Mass Object Found in Family of Stars, NASA)
There, they collide with atoms of gas in the atmosphere, resulting in a brilliant display of colors in the sky.
(Powerful Auroras Found at Brown Dwarf, NASA)
Miss Ingram, who had now seated herself with proud grace at the piano, spreading out her snowy robes in queenly amplitude, commenced a brilliant prelude; talking meantime.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Against the walls, upon the table, on the floor, and in every part of the chamber were great sheets of glass painted in the most brilliant colors.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Never had the exquisite sight, smell, sensation of nature, tranquil, warm, and brilliant after a storm, been more attractive to her.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
Marianne continued to mend every day, and the brilliant cheerfulness of Mrs. Dashwood's looks and spirits proved her to be, as she repeatedly declared herself, one of the happiest women in the world.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
Come, come, it would be very un-handsome in us to be severe on Mrs. Rushworth, for I look forward to our owing her a great many gay, brilliant, happy hours.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
He was brilliant, he was headstrong.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
