brilliant

Pluralbrilliants

1. 1
   outstandingadjective

   Of surpassing excellence; magnificent or outstanding.

   The novel's ending was a brilliant stroke that critics praised for years.

   Her debut was nothing short of brilliant, earning a standing ovation.

   UsageAlready strong praise, so it pairs with absolutely or simply (simply brilliant) more often than with very.

   Similarsuperb, excellent, outstanding, magnificent, splendid

   Oppositemediocre, poor, terrible, dreadful

   Note

   Praise strong enough to stand on its own. In Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses (1988), Anahita rescues a fumbling compliment with the single word "Brilliant." Praise for the mind behind the work belongs to the "intelligent" meaning.

2. 2
   highly intelligentadjective

   Showing great intelligence or exceptional mental ability.

   His brilliant analysis untangled a problem that had stumped the whole team.

   The professor was so brilliant that colleagues sought her opinion on every hard case.

   UsageSomeone is brilliant at something: brilliant at math, brilliant at solving puzzles.

   Similarintelligent, clever, gifted, smart, talented

   Oppositestupid, dull, dim

3. 3
   shining lightadjective

   Shining or glowing with great brightness.

   A brilliant flash of lightning lit up the entire valley.

   The polished brass fixtures were brilliant under the gallery lights.

   Similarbright, dazzling, radiant, gleaming, glittering

   Oppositedull, dim, dark

   Note

   Here the word is still close to its roots. Brilliant lights and a brilliant flash are about light given off or thrown back. The adjective's meanings for minds and achievements are figures built on this one.

4. 4
   vivid coloradjective

   Both bright and deeply saturated in color.

   The garden burst into brilliant yellows and oranges by late summer.

   Stained glass cast brilliant patches of green and crimson on the floor.

   Similarvivid, vibrant, bright, intense, rich

   Oppositepale, dull, muted, drab

5. 5
   cut diamondnouncountable

   A finely cut gemstone, especially a diamond, shaped with many facets to maximize the light returned through its flat top face.

   The appraiser examined the brilliant under a loupe for several minutes.

   A single brilliant glittered at the center of the antique brooch.

   Note

   In verse and fiction from the eighteenth century on, brilliants are the stones set in rings, bracelets and snuffboxes, like the eyes of a jeweled serpent in Letitia Elizabeth Landon's Francesca Carrara (1834).

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