as in brightness
the quality or state of having or giving off light
the brilliancy of the diamond is shown to good effect by the museum's lighting
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Recent Examples of brilliancy
Pinnacle of splendor On Sunday morning, April 27, Venus comes up in total darkness while shining at its greatest brilliancy (magnitude –4.7).
—
Joe Rao, Space.com, 4 Apr. 2025
So, astronomers have come up with a compromise regarding the geometry of the sun's illumination angle on Venus' disk versus its distance from Earth to determine the time of Venus' greatest brilliancy.
—Joe Rao, Space.com, 4 Apr. 2025
Family circles will have wrapped themselves in the holy pleasures of the great occasion, and everywhere the grand old holiday will have been introduced with all the majesty and brilliancy which clings around the hallowed name of Christmas.
—Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman, 23 Dec. 2024
The Red Planet, shining at magnitude –1.4, is 40° to the east-northeast, and the king of planets, Jove, still near its greatest brilliancy for the year at magnitude –2.8, lies 46° west-southwest of Luna.
—Michael E. Bakich, Discover Magazine, 7 Nov. 2022
Set emerald green against bright white to highlight its brilliancy.
—Jessica Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Jan. 2022
Tonight also sees Venus is at greatest brilliancy, so get eyes-on with the second planet from the Sun right after sunset.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 5 Dec. 2021
One of these stars may rise from almost invisibility to a brilliance equaling 100,000,000 times the brilliancy of our sun, although, of course, such super novae are so far away that the estimates can be made only with telescopes.
—Popular Mechanics Editors, Popular Mechanics, 17 Dec. 2020
The truth is that in the history of chess, spanning more than a millennium, there hasn’t been a single human brilliancy, however wayward and unexpected, that a computer could not have located.
—Brad Leithauser, WSJ, 8 Nov. 2018
Joe Rao, Space.com, 4 Apr. 2025
So, astronomers have come up with a compromise regarding the geometry of the sun's illumination angle on Venus' disk versus its distance from Earth to determine the time of Venus' greatest brilliancy.
—Joe Rao, Space.com, 4 Apr. 2025
Family circles will have wrapped themselves in the holy pleasures of the great occasion, and everywhere the grand old holiday will have been introduced with all the majesty and brilliancy which clings around the hallowed name of Christmas.
—Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman, 23 Dec. 2024
The Red Planet, shining at magnitude –1.4, is 40° to the east-northeast, and the king of planets, Jove, still near its greatest brilliancy for the year at magnitude –2.8, lies 46° west-southwest of Luna.
—Michael E. Bakich, Discover Magazine, 7 Nov. 2022
Set emerald green against bright white to highlight its brilliancy.
—Jessica Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Jan. 2022
Tonight also sees Venus is at greatest brilliancy, so get eyes-on with the second planet from the Sun right after sunset.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 5 Dec. 2021
One of these stars may rise from almost invisibility to a brilliance equaling 100,000,000 times the brilliancy of our sun, although, of course, such super novae are so far away that the estimates can be made only with telescopes.
—Popular Mechanics Editors, Popular Mechanics, 17 Dec. 2020
The truth is that in the history of chess, spanning more than a millennium, there hasn’t been a single human brilliancy, however wayward and unexpected, that a computer could not have located.
—Brad Leithauser, WSJ, 8 Nov. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brilliancy
Noun
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This is equivalent to a quadrupling of sky brightness over the duration of a human childhood (18 years).—
Laurie Winkless,
Forbes.com,
23 July 2025
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The team also compared the surface brightness of TOI 1227 with models of stellar evolution.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
18 July 2025
Noun
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After thinking of it as a separate musical idea, Moody realized that the character’s endless curiosity and moments of brilliance were at his heart.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
25 July 2025
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Yet, individual brilliance means little without collaboration.—
David Faris,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 July 2025
Noun
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Has more of that Innocent Man lightness and exuberance than most of the stuff on his later records, and benefits from it.—
Christopher Bonanos,
Vulture,
18 July 2025
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Gaura: With its wispy, butterfly-like blossoms, gaura adds lightness and motion to garden beds.—
Lauren Dunec Hoang,
Better Homes & Gardens,
18 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Brilliancy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brilliancy. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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