Entry Word: bright

Function: adjective

Meaning: 1 giving off or reflecting much light <in the desert the sun was so bright that it hurt my eyes> <the moon is bright tonight>

Synonyms beaming, bedazzling, brilliant, dazzling, effulgent, glowing, incandescent, lambent, lucent, lucid, luminous, lustrous, radiant, refulgent, shining, shiny

Related Words blazing, burning, combusting, fiery, flaming; agleam, aglitter, blinding, flaring, flashing, flickering, glaring, gleaming, glimmering, glinting, glistening, glittering, scintillating, shimmering, sparkling, twinkling; burnished, polished; sunny

Near Antonyms blackened, dark, darkened, darkish, darkling, darksome, dimmed, dusky, gloomy, murky, obscure, obscured, pitch-black, pitch-dark, somber (or sombre), sunless; cloudy, shadowy, shady; gray (also grey), leaden, pale

Antonyms dim, dull, lackluster

2 filled with much light <the display windows of department stores are especially bright at Christmastime>

Synonyms ablaze, alight, brightened, illuminated, illumined, light, lighted (or lit)

Related Words floodlit (or floodlighted), highlighted, spotlighted (or spotlit); kindled, ignited

Near Antonyms gloomy, somber, sunless; cloudy, murky, obscured, shadowy; gray (also grey), leaden, pale

Antonyms blackened, dark, darkened, darkish, darkling, dimmed, dusky, pitch-black, pitch-dark

3 having or showing a good mood or disposition <always walks into work with a bright smile on his face> — see cheerful 1
4 having or showing quickness of mind <a bright student who always has her hand up first> — see intelligent 1
5 having qualities which inspire hope <predicted a bright future for the young math whiz> — see hopeful 1
6 pointing toward a happy outcome <all the signs are bright right now for an economic boom> — see favorable 2
7 serving to lift oneʼs spirits <a bright and beautiful morning to begin planting our garden> — see cheerful 2