brilliant

1 giving off or reflecting much light a brilliant chandelier graces the hotel lobby Synonyms beaming, bedazzling, bright, candescent, clear, dazzling, effulgent, fulgent, glowing, incandescent, lambent, lucent, lucid, luminous, lustrous, radiant, refulgent, sheeny, shining, shiny, splendidRelated 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, ultrabrightNear 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, palishAntonyms 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, intelligent, clever, exceptional, fast, hyperintelligent, keen, nimble, quick, quick-witted, sharp, sharp-witted, smart, supersmart, ultrasmartRelated 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, reasonableNear 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), zanyAntonyms 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, noticeable, catchy, commanding, conspicuous, dramatic, emphatic, eye-catching, flamboyant, grabby, kenspeckle [chiefly Scottish], marked, noisy, prominent, pronounced, remarkable, showy, splashy, strikingRelated 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, rivetingNear 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, unflashyAntonyms inconspicuous, unemphatic, unflamboyant, unnoticeable, unobtrusive, unremarkable, unshowy

a usually valuable stone cut and polished for ornament the diamond cutter set out an array of brilliants to show the various ways the diamond could be cut Synonyms gem, gemstone, jewel, rock [slang]Related Words bauble, bijou, trinket; birthstone; baguette, cabochon, cameo, scarab, solitaire, teardrop; paste, rhinestone, zircon; crown jewels, jewelryNear Antonyms rough