bright

1 of 2

adjective

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
brightest star of the opera
3
4
: of high saturation or lightness
bright colors
5
a
: lively, cheerful
be bright and jovial among your guestsWilliam Shakespeare
b
: intelligent, clever
a bright idea
bright children
6
: auspicious, promising
bright prospects for the future
bright adverb
brightly adverb

bright

2 of 2

noun

plural brights
1
: a color of high saturation : a bright (see bright entry 1 sense 4) color
usually used in plural
rich earth tones and crisp brightsPatricia Peterson
2
brights plural : clothing that is brightly colored
Follow these steps and you can wash your dark clothes with the same laundry detergent you use for your whites and brights.Mary Hunt
3
brights plural : high beams
It didn't help that the car behind her, which had its brights on, seemed intent on tailgating her all the way to Fells Point.Laura Lippman
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

Adjective 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
Adjective
The displays also automatically tint in brighter environments so that objects are easier to see and so the displays don’t need to go into overdrive to make things visible. Anshel Sag, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024 And Republicans, on the other hand, are looking forward to a bright decade of pickup opportunities in the Senate across the country. G. Elliott Morris, ABC News, 23 Oct. 2024
Noun
Luna Magic Shadow Palette This Luna Magic Shadow Palette is composed of a lovely range of neutrals and brights for all the blending and building one could hope for. Annie Blackman, Allure, 17 Oct. 2024 The windows will feature variations of the Miss Dior bag in a variety of colors — including pink, purple and lime — while the walls will be adorned with sculptures featuring the season’s latest bags, including the Lady Dior style, in a similar rainbow of brights. Samantha Conti, WWD, 3 Sep. 2019 See all Example Sentences for bright 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bright.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

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

Noun

noun derivative of bright entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

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

Noun

1920, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Time Traveler
The first known use of bright was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near bright

Cite this Entry

“Bright.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bright. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.

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

Biographical Definition

Bright

biographical name

John 1811–1889 English orator and statesman

More from Merriam-Webster on bright

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