I. ˈbrīt, usu -īd.+V adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English beorht, byrht, bryht; akin to Old High German beraht bright, Old Norse bjartr, Gothic bairhts clear, evident, Sanskrit bhrājate it shines
1.
a. : marked by shining or radiating light : pervaded by, shedding, or reflecting a relatively great amount of light : shining , luminous
a bright sun
bright flames
bright eyes
some diamonds, very bright and sparkling — Charles Dickens
b. : marked by qualities that make conspicuous in a way similar to that of a radiating light: as
(1) : ringing and clear : sharp — used of sounds or musical tones having a predominance of high overtones
a sharp bright quality of voice
(2) : of high or very high saturation or lightness — used of a color
bright red
c. : having qualities that make markedly, especially radiantly, attractive : illustrious for qualities that charm or affect the mind pleasurably
bright hours with friends
bright beauty
a landscape bright with flowers
d. : marked by lightness, cheer, happiness, or qualities inspiring optimism : promising , auspicious
those bright mornings when you whistle with a light heart — W.H.Auden
bright prospects of victory
his voice sounded so bright and cheerful, and had such a warm infectious gladness running through it — O.E.Rölvaag
2. archaic : illustrious , glorious
Troy … bright with fame — Shakespeare
3.
a. : showing mental quickness, ready understanding or learning, prompt responses, or originality
bright young fellows with a charming literary swagger, they aspired to be wits — V.L.Parrington
b. : showing lively animation, vivacity, or activity
bright and busy and crowded with tourists — American Guide Series: Michigan
she paused for a bright wave of her hand — Agnes S. Turnbull
c. : showing glib quickness or facile resourcefulness without deep intellectuality
bright ideas, some of them showing a superb neglect of practical feasibility — Countryman
4. : clear , transparent
a bright wine
bright beer
5. : light in color or smooth, clean, or lustrous in any of several ways: as
a. of lumber : newly sawed or planed and smooth or free from discoloration
b. of woodwork : scraped and cleaned usually with sand or canvas but not painted
c. of coal : shining and banded : containing high moisture and sulfur content — compare clarain , vitrain
d. : having a high sparkling or glazed finish
bright jewelry
a bright leather
e. : free from dirt and having an attractive luster
bright onions ready for market
f. : having a natural unbleached color (as in certain market grades of hay or grain)
g. of yarn : lustrous
h. of silk : degummed
i. of wool or cotton : light colored : white
j. of a Negro : light in complexion
a bright mulatto
k. of wire rope : not galvanized, tinned, or otherwise coated
6. : flue-cured
Synonyms:
brilliant , radiant , luminous , lustrous , effulgent , refulgent , beaming , beamy , lambent , lucent , incandescent : bright indicates emission of or pervasion by a high degree of light
like the bright spots that move about the sun — John Keats
the moon was so bright that Smith watered and raked and weeded as if it had been day — C.B.Nordhoff & J.N.Hall
brilliant implies intense, often sparkling brightness
midnight streets are more brilliant than noon — American Guide Series: New York City
a luscious prairie … brilliant with bulb flowers in the springtime — H.J.Mackinder
radiant may stress emission of light rays but often it is only a colorful equivalent for bright
the sun and moon, then at the prime of their radiant power and glory — J.G.Frazer
the radiant mist of the afterglow — Ellen Glasgow
its beautifully terraced garden radiant with bloom — V.G.Heiser
luminous usually implies emission of a steady, suffused, glowing light
the château began to make itself strangely visible by some light of its own, as though it were growing luminous — Charles Dickens
the inner surface of the glass is luminous of itself, shining with a soft and clear green light — K.K.Darrow
lustrous stresses a tendency to reflect light, especially in a rich and even way
the lustrous salvers in the moonlight gleam — John Keats
lustrous as some huge precious pearl — Henry James †1916
effulgent and refulgent indicate resplendent or gleaming brilliance, the latter implying reflectivity
the fiery light of the sinking sun … mottled the mountains with effulgent spaces — John Tyndall
the glorious sovereign of day, clothed in light refulgent, rolling on his gilded chariot, hastened to revisit the western realms — William Bartram
beaming and the poetical beamy stress emission of light beams or rays
the rising moon fair beaming — Robert Burns
west and away the wheels of darkness roll, day's beamy banner up the east is borne — A.E.Housman
lambent often indicates soft luminosity
another moon new risen … of lambent flame serene — William Cowper
kind, quiet, nearsighted eyes, which his round spectacles magnified into lambent moons — Margaret Deland
lucent , various in its uses and romantic in suggestion, may imply a transfiguring light
she walked below the lucent sun — Elinor Wylie
till every particle glowed clean and new and slowly seemed to turn to lucent amber in a world of blue — W.W.Gibson
incandescent suggests intense, glowing brightness
here gush the sparkles incandescent like scattered showers of golden sand — Bayard Taylor
the air rendered incandescent by the vehemence of the impacts of the electrons against its molecules — K.K.Darrow
Synonym: see in addition intelligent .
II. adverb
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English brighte, from Old English beorhte, byrhte, bryhte, from beorht, byrht, bryht, adjective
: brightly
I say it is the moon that shines so bright — Shakespeare
asked which of the two lamps shone brighter
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from bright, adjective
1. obsolete : brightness , splendor
2. : tobacco of a light shade ; specifically : flue-cured tobacco
3. : an artist's brush with short flat square-edged bristles — compare flat , round
4. brights plural : high beam
IV. noun
: a bright color — usually used in plural