- the condition of being bright
- a former name for luminosity
- the experienced intensity of light
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
bright•ness
(brīt′nis),USA pronunciation n.
- the quality of being bright.
- Opticsthe 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.
- Middle English brihtnes, Old English beorhtnes. See bright, -ness bef. 950
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
brightness /ˈbraɪtnɪs/ n
'brightness' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
besmirch
- blaze
- brightening agent
- brilliance
- candour
- contrast
- defile
- dim
- dingy
- dull
- fade
- faint
- foil
- ganoid
- glance
- glass
- gleam
- glint
- glisten
- glow
- isophote
- light
- luminance
- luminosity
- magnitude
- neat
- nit
- nova
- pale
- pallid
- photoflood
- pulsating star
- pyrometer
- selachian
- sheen
- shimmer
- subfusc
- turn down
- twinkle
- variable star
- black
- bright
- brightener
- burnish
- Cepheid variable
- chrominance
- color
- drab
- eclipsing variable
- feeble