bright

adjective

ˈbrīt 

1

a

: radiating or reflecting light : shining, sparkling

bright lights

bright eyes

b

: sunny

a bright day

also : radiant with happiness

bright smiling faces

bright moments

2

: illustrious, glorious

the brightest star of the opera

3

: beautiful

4

: of high saturation or lightness

bright colors

5

a

: lively, cheerful

… be bright and jovial among your guests …

—William Shakespeare

b

: intelligent, clever

a bright idea

bright children

6

: auspicious, promising

bright prospects for the future

Look on the bright side. [=the good part of something that is mostly bad]

bright adverb

brightly adverb

Synonyms of bright

• shining
• luminous
• dazzling
• glowing
• shiny
• radiant
• brilliant
• gleaming

Choose the Right Synonym for bright

bright, brilliant, radiant, luminous, lustrous mean shining or glowing with light.

bright implies emitting or reflecting a high degree of light.

brilliant implies intense often sparkling brightness.

radiant stresses the emission or seeming emission of rays of light.

luminous implies emission of steady, suffused, glowing light by reflection or in surrounding darkness.

lustrous stresses an even, rich light from a surface that reflects brightly without glittering.

Examples of bright in a Sentence

The lighting was too bright.

a bright room with lots of windows

It was a bright, sunny day.

The room was decorated in bright colors.

Recent Examples on the Web

Ex-Arsenal player Héctor Bellerín wore bright pink on the Louis Vuitton catwalk in 2019, while Real Madrid’s Eduardo Camavinga walked for Balenciaga in 2022. —Sheena McKenzie, CNN Money, 7 June 2026

The sun started to shine a little bit brighter. —Tracy Smith, CBS News, 7 June 2026

The tragedies and ironies of life can produce some of the brightest light. —Doug Turnbull, AJC.com, 7 June 2026

The brightest and highest star in the Summer Triangle is Vega. —Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 7 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English beorht; akin to Old High German beraht bright, Sanskrit bhrājate it shines

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing bright

• bright and early
• bright-eyed and bushy-tailed
• bright-line
• bright spark
• bright spot
• look on the bright side
• on the bright side

Rhymes for bright

• bight
• bite
• blight
• byte
• cite
• dight
• fight
• fite
• flight
• fright
• height
• hight

Kids Definition

bright

adjective

ˈbrīt

1

: giving off or filled with much light

2

: very clear or vivid in color

3

: intelligent sense 1b, clever

a bright child

a bright idea

4

: cheerful sense 1

a bright smile

5

: full of promise

a bright future

bright adverb

brightly adverb

brightness noun