brilliant
- Extremely clever or talented, or shining with a very bright, sparkling light.
- In British informal English, used to mean excellent or wonderful.
In a sentence
- She came up with a brilliant solution to the math problem that no one else had thought of.
- The fireworks lit up the sky in brilliant bursts of red and gold.
Usage note. In British English, 'brilliant' is commonly used as a casual exclamation of approval, which can sound unusual or overly enthusiastic in American English contexts.
Where it comes from
English brilliant · entered English late 17th c.
From French 'brillant,' the present participle of 'briller,' meaning 'to shine,' which is thought to derive from Italian 'brillare,' possibly from Latin 'beryllus,' a type of glittering gemstone. The word entered English in the late 17th century, first describing sparkling light and gemstones before expanding to mean exceptional intelligence.