Collins English Thesaurus Essential. Collins Dictionaries
2 There are four alternatives; they are described briefly below. = in outline, in brief, in passing, in a nutshell, concisely, in a few wordsbrigade NOUN 1 the men of the Seventh Armoured Brigade = corps, company, force, unit, division, troop, squad, crew, team, outfit (informal), regiment, contingent, squadron, detachment 2 the healthy-eating brigade = group, party, body, band, camp, squad, organization, crew (informal), bunch (informal)bright ADJECTIVE 1 a bright red dress = vivid, rich, brilliant, intense, glowing, colourful, highly-coloured 2 Newborns hate bright lights and loud noises. = shining, flashing, beaming, glowing, blazing, sparkling, glittering, dazzling, illuminated, gleaming, shimmering, twinkling, radiant, luminous, glistening, resplendent, scintillating, lustrous, lambent, effulgent 3 I was convinced that he was brighter than average. = intelligent, smart, clever, knowing, thinking, quick, aware, sharp, keen, acute, alert, rational, penetrating, enlightened, apt, astute, brainy (informal), wide-awake, clear-headed, perspicacious (formal), quick-witted 4 There are lots of books crammed with bright ideas. = clever, brilliant, smart, sensible, cunning, ingenious, inventive, canny 5 The boy was so bright and animated. = cheerful, happy, glad (archaic), lively, jolly, merry, upbeat (informal), joyous, joyful, genial, chirpy (informal), sparky, vivacious, full of beans (informal), gay (old-fashioned), light-hearted 6 Both had successful careers and the future looked bright. = promising, good, encouraging, excellent, golden, optimistic, hopeful, favourable, prosperous, rosy, auspicious, propitious, palmy 7 the bright winter sky = sunny, clear, fair, pleasant, clement, lucid, cloudless, unclouded, sunlit ◼ OPPOSITE: cloudybrighten VERB 1 Seeing him, she seemed to brighten a little. = cheer up, rally, take heart, perk up, buck up (informal), become cheerful ◼ OPPOSITE: become gloomy 2 Her tearful eyes brightened with interest. = light up, shine, glow, gleam, clear up, lighten, enliven ◼ OPPOSITE: dim 3 Planted tubs brightened the area outside the door. = enliven, animate, make brighter, vitalize 4 The sky above the ridge of the mountains brightened. = become brighter, light up, glow, gleam, clear upbrightness NOUN 1 You'll be impressed with the brightness of the colours. = vividness, intensity, brilliance, splendour, resplendence 2 Her brightness seemed quite intimidating to me. = intelligence, intellect, brains (informal), awareness, sharpness, alertness, cleverness, quickness, acuity, brain power, smarts (slang, chiefly U.S.), smartnessbrilliance or brilliancy NOUN 1 His brilliance and genius will always remain. = cleverness, talent, wisdom, distinction, genius, excellence, greatness, aptitude, inventiveness, acuity, giftedness, braininess ◼ OPPOSITE: stupidity 2 the brilliance of the sun on the water = brightness, blaze, intensity, sparkle, glitter, dazzle, gleam, sheen, lustre, radiance, luminosity, vividness, resplendence, effulgence, refulgence ◼ OPPOSITE: darkness 3 The opera house was perfection, all brilliance and glamour. = splendour, glamour, grandeur, magnificence, éclat, gorgeousness, illustriousness, pizzazz or pizazz (informal), giltbrilliant ADJECTIVE 1 She had a brilliant mind. = intelligent, sharp, intellectual, alert, clever, quick, acute, profound, rational, penetrating, discerning, inventive, astute, brainy (informal), perspicacious (formal), quick-witted 2 a brilliant pianist = expert, masterly, talented, gifted, accomplished ◼ OPPOSITE: untalented 3 a brilliant success = splendid, grand, famous, celebrated, rare, supreme, outstanding, remarkable, superb, magnificent, sterling, glorious, exceptional, notable, renowned, heroic, admirable, eminent, sublime, illustrious 4 The event was held in brilliant sunshine. = bright, shining, intense, sparkling, glittering, dazzling, vivid, radiant, luminous, ablaze, resplendent, scintillating, lustrous, coruscating, refulgent (literary), lambent ◼ OPPOSITE: darkbrim NOUN She filled her glass right up to the brim. = rim, edge, border, lip, margin, verge (Brit.), brink, flange ▸ VERB 1 They are brimming with confidence. = be full, spill, well over, run over, overflow, spill over, brim over 2 Michael looked at him imploringly, his eyes brimming with tears. = fill, well over, fill up, overflowbrine NOUN = salt water, saline solution, pickling solutionbring VERB 1 My father brought home a book for me. = fetch, take, carry, bear, transfer, deliver, transport, import, convey 2 I brought him inside and dried him off. = take, guide, conduct, accompany, escort, usher 3 The revolution brought more trouble than it was worth. = cause, produce, create, effect, occasion (formal), result in, contribute to, inflict, wreak, engender 4 I could not even bring myself to enter the house. = make, force, influence, convince, persuade, prompt, compel, induce, move, dispose, sway, prevail on or upon ● bring someone up He brought up four children. = rear, raise, support, train, develop, teach, nurse, breed, foster, educate, care for, nurture ● bring something about The two sides are attempting to bring about fundamental changes. = cause, produce, create, effect, manage, achieve, occasion (formal), realize, generate, accomplish, give rise to, make happen, effectuate, bring to pass ● bring something down 1 They were threatening to bring down the government. = overturn, reduce, undermine, overthrow, abase 2 The air fares war will bring down prices. = reduce, cut, drop, lower, slash, decrease 3 The lumberjacks brought the tree down. = cut down, level, fell, hew, lop, raze 4 Such forces would normally bring the building down. = demolish, level, destroy, dismantle, flatten, knock down, pull down, tear down, bulldoze, raze, kennet (Austral. slang), jeff (Austral. slang) ● bring something in 1 They brought in a controversial law. = introduce, start, found, launch, establish, set up, institute, organize, pioneer, initiate, usher in, inaugurate 2 The business brings in about £60,000 a year. = produce, return, net, realize, generate, be worth, yield, gross, fetch, accrue ● bring something off They were about to bring off an even bigger coup. = accomplish, achieve, perform, carry out, succeed, execute, discharge, pull off, carry off, bring to pass ● bring something up Why are you bringing that up now? = mention, raise, introduce, point out, refer to, allude to, broach, call attention to, speak about or ofbrink NOUN = edge, point, limit, border, lip, margin, boundary, skirt, frontier, fringe, verge (Brit.), threshold, rim, brimbrio NOUN = energy, spirit, enthusiasm, dash, pep, zip (informal), animation, vigour, verve, zest, panache, gusto, get-up-and-go (informal), élan, vivacity, livelinessbrisk ADJECTIVE 1 The horse broke into a brisk trot. = quick, lively, energetic, active, vigorous, animated, bustling, speedy, nimble, agile, sprightly, vivacious, spry ◼ OPPOSITE: slow 2 She attempted to reason with him in a rather brisk fashion. = short, sharp, brief, blunt, rude, tart, abrupt, no-nonsense, terse, gruff, pithy, brusque, offhand, monosyllabic, ungracious, uncivil, snappish 3 The breeze was cool, brisk and invigorating. = invigorating, fresh, biting, sharp, keen, stimulating, crisp, bracing, refreshing, exhilarating, nippy ◼ OPPOSITE: tiringbriskly ADVERB 1 Eve walked briskly down the corridor. = quickly, smartly, promptly, rapidly, readily, actively, efficiently, vigorously, energetically, pronto (informal), nimbly, posthaste 2 A trader said gold was selling briskly on the local market. = rapidly, quickly, apace (literary), pdq (slang) 3 'Anyhow,' she added briskly, 'it's none of my business.' = brusquely, firmly, decisively, incisivelybristle NOUN two days' growth of bristles = hair, spine, thorn, whisker, barb, stubble, prickle ▸ VERB 1 It makes the hair on the nape of my neck bristle. = stand up, rise, prickle, stand on end, horripilate 2 He bristled with indignation. = be angry, rage, seethe, flare up, bridle, see red, be infuriated, spit (informal), go ballistic (slang), be maddened, wig out (slang), get your dander up (slang) 3 The country bristles with armed groups. = abound, crawl,