BRILLIANT • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Brilliant

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/brˈɪljənt/ Listen

adjective

Brilliant adj.

Sparkling with luster; glittering; very bright; as, a brilliant star.

Distinguished by qualities which excite admiration; splendid; shining; as, brilliant talents. "Washington was more solicitous to avoid fatal mistakes than to perform brilliant exploits."

Exceedingly intelligent, or of distinguished accomplishment in a field; as, a brilliant chemist.

Synonyms: See Shining.

noun

Brilliant n.

A diamond or other gem of the finest cut, formed into faces and facets, so as to reflect and refract the light, by which it is rendered more brilliant. It has at the middle, or top, a principal face, called the table, which is surrounded by a number of sloping facets forming a bizet; below, it has a small face or collet, parallel to the table, connected with the girdle by a pavilion of elongated facets. It is thus distinguished from the rose diamond, which is entirely covered with facets on the surface, and is flat below. "This snuffbox on the hinge see brilliants shine."

(Print.) The smallest size of type used in England printing. Note: This line is printed in the type called Brilliant.

A kind of cotton goods, figured on the weaving.

See images of 'Brilliant'

Etymology of 'Brilliant'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar

"Brilliant" Quotes from Famous Books

... and backward, was sufficiently advanced to render the journey pleasant; and though the road from Washington to Baltimore was less brilliant in foliage than when I had seen it before, it still had much of beauty. The azalias were in full bloom, and the delicate yellow blossom of the sassafras almost rivalled its ...

— Domestic Manners of the Americans • Fanny Trollope

... The night was brilliant starlight, and the strictest watch was kept, but hour after hour went by, and there was not a sound; no dark shadow creeping over the water from the frigate, which lay anchored, with her lights showing reflections ...

— Syd Belton - The Boy who would not go to Sea • George Manville Fenn

... coarse grass, docks, nettles, and degenerate shrubs. The paint on the doors had lost all colour, and much of it was blistered off; the three knockers had disappeared, leaving indications of rough removal, as if—which was probably the case—they had fallen a prey to marauders. Standing full in the brilliant sunshine, this spectacle of abandonment seemed sadder, yet less ugly, than it would have looked under a gloomy sky. Goldthorpe began to weave stories about its musty squalor. He crossed the road to make a nearer inspection; and as he stood gazing at the dishonoured thresholds, at the stained ...

— The House of Cobwebs and Other Stories • George Gissing

... Chamber at the opening presented a brilliant appearance. The floor had been given up to the ladies, who were in full evening dress. At the hour appointed the doors behind the throne were opened to admit the suite from Rideau Hall. The ladies were still dressed in deep mourning for the Princess ...

— The Youth's Companion - Volume LII, Number 11, Thursday, March 13, 1879 • Various

... theatres as recent critics have named it. This play as a fabric of plot is a very slight affair; but as a satirical picture of the manners of the time, proceeding by means of vivid caricature, couched in witty and brilliant dialogue and sustained by that righteous indignation which must lie at the heart of all true satire—as a realisation, in short, of the classical ideal of comedy—there had been nothing like Jonson's comedy since the days of Aristophanes. "Every Man in His Humour," like ...

— The Poetaster - Or, His Arraignment • Ben Jonson

More quotes...