brilliant
/ˈbɹɪljənt/
"brilliant" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“brilliant” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,716 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #2,716
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Shining brightly.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | brilliant |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈbɹɪljənt/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #2,716 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “brilliant” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for brilliant is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbɹɪljənt/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,716 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for brilliant, with forms such as "bbrilliant", "birlliant", and "briliant". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "brilliantly", "brilliance", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French brillant (late 17th century), present participle of the verb briller, from Italian brillare, possibly from Latin berillus, beryllus (“a beryl, gem, eyeglass”), from Ancient Greek βήρυλλος (bḗrullos, “beryl”). The correct English form is brilliant, spelled B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T.
Definition
- 1Shining brightly.
- 2Both bright and saturated.
- 3Having a sharp, clear tone.
- 4Of surpassing excellence; magnificent.
- 5Highly intelligent.
Etymology
Borrowed from French brillant (late 17th century), present participle of the verb briller, from Italian brillare, possibly from Latin berillus, beryllus (“a beryl, gem, eyeglass”), from Ancient Greek βήρυλλος (bḗrullos, “beryl”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbrilliant,birlliant,briliant,brililant,brillaint,brilliannt,brilliantt,brilliatn,brillinat,brliliant,brrilliant,rbilliant
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of brilliant - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “brilliant”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbɹɪljənt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “brilliantly” - see the side-by-side comparison. brilliant vs brilliantly
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.