brightness
Americannoun
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brightnesses
plural
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the quality of being bright.
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Optics. the luminance of a body, apart from its hue or saturation, that an observer uses to determine the comparative luminance of another body. Pure white has the maximum brightness, and pure black the minimum brightness.
noun
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the condition of being bright
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physics a former name for luminosity
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psychol the experienced intensity of light
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of brightness
before 950; Middle English brihtnes, Old English beorhtnes. See bright, -ness
Vocabulary lists containing brightness
Space Science (Astronomy) - Introductory
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Physics - Introductory
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Physics - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But their unrelieved brightness and utter lack of texture have the bland flatness of plastic, and render them lifeless.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
I use the zest of a whole lemon rather than its juice — lots of brightness, no unnecessary liquid — plus dried thyme, garlic, onion and enough black pepper to make itself known.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
Betelgeuse attracted worldwide attention several years ago when its brightness noticeably dropped.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026
During the chorus, harmonica borrowed from Stevie Wonder’s “That Girl” screeches into view, but the brightness only serves to accent the desolation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
But what mattered most in Tycho’s day was not its brightness but its newness.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
So, when astrophysicists compare the apparent brightnesses of two type Ia supernovae as seen from Earth, they can determine their relative distances from us.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 8, 2024
This, they said, was consistent with quasars of different "brightnesses," meaning with varying strength to their radio emissions.
From Salon ● Apr. 30, 2023
‘Pray,’ they said, and I laughed, covering myself in the earth’s brightnesses, and then stole off gray into the midst of a revel, and prayed like an orphan.
From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2021
Besides dramatically boosting the total number of known FRB events, the observations also revealed a very wide range of brightnesses among the recorded events, offering new clues about the astrophysical nature of their mysterious source.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 13, 2021
I look at the moons one more time, the smaller one chasing the larger one, two brightnesses up there, still light enough to cast shadows, ignorant of the troubles of men.
From "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
