brilliant

brilliant

adjective

Definition of BRILLIANT

1

giving off or reflecting much light <a brilliant chandelier graces the hotel lobby>

Synonyms beaming, bedazzling, brilliant, candescent, clear, dazzling, effulgent, fulgent, glowing, incandescent, lambent, lucent, lucid, luminous, lustrous, radiant, refulgent, sheeny, shining, shiny, splendid

Related Words ablaze, ardent, blazing, burning, combusting, fiery, flaming, red-hot; agleam, aglitter, blinding, coruscant, flaring, flashing, flickering, gemmy, glancing, glaring, gleaming, glimmering, glinting, glistening, glistering, glittering, scintillant, scintillating, shimmering, shimmery, sparkling, sunny, twinkling, winking; burnished, polished, shined; superbright, ultrabright

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

Antonyms dim, dull, lackluster, unbright, unbrilliant

2

having or showing quickness of mind <a brilliant boy who left for college at the age of 16>

Synonyms alert, brainy, bright, brilliant, clever, exceptional, fast, hyperintelligent, keen, nimble, quick, quick-witted, sharp, sharp-witted, smart, supersmart, ultrasmart

Related Words apt, ingenious, resourceful; acute, astute, discerning, heady, insightful, knowing, perceptive, percipient, perspicacious, sagacious, sapient, savvy, wise; cerebral, erudite, genial, highbrow, knowledgeable, learned, literate, scholarly, well-read; educated, informed, schooled, skilled, trained; creative, inventive, judicious, prudent, sage, sane, sapient, sensible, sound, wise; crafty, cunning, foxy, shrewd, wily; logical, rational, reasonable

Near Antonyms feebleminded, simpleminded; boobish, foolish, half-baked, idiotic (also idiotical), imbecile (or imbecilic), moronic, silly; ignorant, illiterate, lowbrow, nonintellectual, unacademic, uneducated, uninformed, unintellectual, untaught, unthinking; absurd, asinine, balmy, cockeyed, crackpot, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dippy, dotty, featherheaded, fool, half-baked, harebrained, insane, kooky (also kookie), loony (also looney), lunatic, mad, nonsensical, nutty, preposterous, sappy, screwball, tomfool, unwise, wacky (also whacky), zany

Antonyms airheaded, birdbrained, boneheaded, brain-dead, brainless, bubbleheaded, chuckleheaded, dense, dim, dim-witted, doltish, dopey (also dopy), dorky [slang], dull, dumb, dunderheaded, empty-headed, fatuous, gormless [chiefly British], half-witted, knuckleheaded, lamebrain (or lamebrained), lunkheaded, mindless, obtuse, opaque, pinheaded, senseless, simple, slow, slow-witted, soft, softheaded, stupid, thick, thickheaded, thick-witted, unbrilliant, unintelligent, unsmart, vacuous, weak-minded, witless

3

likely to attract attention <a brilliant example of government waste>

Synonyms arresting, bodacious, bold, brilliant, catchy, commanding, conspicuous, dramatic, emphatic, eye-catching, flamboyant, grabby, kenspeckle [chiefly Scottish], marked, noisy, prominent, pronounced, remarkable, showy, splashy, striking

Related Words detectable, discernible (also discernable), observable, perceptible, recognizable, visible; outstanding, salient; distinguished, eminent, impressive, notable, noteworthy; highlighted, spotlighted; flagrant, glaring, howling, screaming; flashy, garish, gaudy, glitzy, jazzy, loud, meretricious, swank (or swanky), tawdry; highfalutin (also hifalutin), ostentatious, pretentious; extravagant, fancy, florid, glittery, spectacular; opulent, ornate, overdone, overwrought; absorbing, engrossing, enthralling, fascinating, interesting, riveting

Near Antonyms subtle; concealed, hidden, shrouded; dim, faint, obscure; insignificant, undistinguished, unimportant; modest, unaffected, unassuming, unpretentious; conservative, plain, quiet, simple, understated; muted, restrained, subdued, subtle, toned-down, unflashy

Antonyms inconspicuous, unemphatic, unflamboyant, unnoticeable, unobtrusive, unremarkable, unshowy