brightness
bright·ness/ˈbɹaɪtnəs/noun
brightness is spelled B-R-I-G-H-T-N-E-S-S: 10 letters and 2 syllables (bright·ness). It appears 3.7 times per million words in written English, the 13,496th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, brightness means “The quality of being bright” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of brightness is brightnesses.
How many letters and syllables are in brightness?
| Letters | 10: B-R-I-G-H-T-N-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: bright·ness |
| In writing | 3.7 times per million words; the 13,496th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is brightness?
Brightness appears 3.7 times per million words in written English, the 13,496th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce brightness?
- /ˈbɹaɪtnəs/
Brightness has 2 syllables, split bright·ness in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-brightness.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of brightness
- brightnesses plural
- brightnesse
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does brightness mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The quality of being bright.
- 2
The perceived luminance of an object.
- 3
Intelligence, cleverness.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Brightness in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | brillance , luminosité , intelligence |
| German | Funkeln, Glanz, Helligkeit, Strahlen , Aufgewecktheit |
| Portuguese | brilho, claridade, clareza |
| Spanish | brillo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does brightness come from?
From Middle English bryghtnes, brightnesse, from Old English beorhtnes (“brightness, splendor”), from Proto-West Germanic *berhtnassī, equivalent to bright + -ness. Cognate with Old High German berahtnessī, berahtnessi (“brightness”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).