brilliant

A2 Topic:Describing People

US /ˈbɹɪljənt/ See IPA manual

adj noun Freq #1655

Meanings

1

adj
Very good; excellent or wonderful.

We had a brilliant time at the party.
2

adj
Extremely intelligent or skilful.

She is a brilliant scientist whose work changed the field.
3

adj
Shining very brightly.

The brilliant lights of the city lit up the night sky.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · very good; excellent or... excellent superb wonderful

2 adj · extremely intelligent or... brainy ingenious

3 adj · shining very brightly. shining glittering

Word family

Derived forms brilliancybrilliantinebrilliantlybrilliantnessbrillooverbrilliantsuperbrillianttrilliantultrabrilliantunbrilliant

Related forms beryl beryllium brilliance

Common collocations

Etymology

Borrowed from French brillant (late 17th century), present participle of the verb briller, from Italian brillare, possibly from Latin berillus, beryllus (“a beryl, gem, eyeglass”), from Ancient Greek βήρυλλος (bḗrullos, “beryl”).

brillare Italian berillus Latin βήρυλλος Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing People

# brilliant

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** ˈbɹɪljənt
**Frequency rank:** 1655

## Meanings
1. Very good; excellent or wonderful.
2. Extremely intelligent or skilful.
3. Shining very brightly.

## Examples
- We had a brilliant time at the party.
- She is a brilliant scientist whose work changed the field.
- The brilliant lights of the city lit up the night sky.

## Derived Forms
- brilliancy
- brilliantine
- brilliantly
- brilliantness
- brillo
- overbrilliant
- superbrilliant
- trilliant
- ultrabrilliant
- unbrilliant

## Related Forms
- beryl
- beryllium
- brilliance

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: brillare
- Root: berillus
- Root: βήρυλλος

## Etymology
Borrowed from French brillant (late 17th century), present participle of the verb briller, from Italian brillare, possibly from Latin berillus, beryllus (“a beryl, gem, eyeglass”), from Ancient Greek βήρυλλος (bḗrullos, “beryl”).

## AI Etymology
Brilliant was borrowed from French brillant (late 17th century), present participle of the verb briller, from Italian brillare, possibly from Latin berillus, beryllus (“a beryl, gem, eyeglass”), from Ancient Greek βήρυλλος (bḗrullos, “beryl”).

## Topics
- Describing People

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