brillant

\bʁi.jɑ̃\

/\bʁi.jɑ̃\/ adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“brillant” has 11 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #4,912. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,912
frequency rank, French
4,251
“B” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
9
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui brille.

Corpus desk

Index FR-brillant · brillant · French

brillant · rank #4,912 · 11 variants · 9 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,912
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,251
  • PHOTO-FINISH barrage

Nearest frequency peer: barrage (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « brillant »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « brillant » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

brillant vs brûlant
75% similar
brillant vs brisant
75% similar
brillant vs brillent
88% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for brillant
PropertyValue
Headwordbrillant
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\bʁi.jɑ̃\
Letters8
Frequency rank#4,912
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs9
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « brillant »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).brillantse place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « barrage » (#4,911), « baron » (#4,910), « Camille » (#4,914). Parmi 4,251 lemmes en « B », « brillant » est au #4,912. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around brillant (IPA \bʁi.jɑ̃\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #4,912 among 4,251 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for brillant, with forms such as "bbrillant", "birllant", and "brilalnt". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 9 confusable-pair relationships, "brûlant", "brisant", "brillent", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is brillant, spelled B-R-I-L-L-A-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui brille.
  2. 2
    Ce qui frappe vivement et agréablement les regards par le luxe, la pompe, la magnificence.
  3. 3
    Qualifie ce qui est très remarquable dans son genre ou qui frappe et saisit vivement l’esprit, l’imagination.
  4. 4
    En parlant d'un cheval dans une course, impétueux, allant, qui a l'encolure relevée, qui tire, qui va plus vite que ne le voudrait son cavalier.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how brillant appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Le lendemain nous sommes déjà loin de Thorshavn, mais les hautes montagnes des Féroë se profilent encore à l’horizon, avec leur brillante auréole neigeuse.
  2. Cette partie, appelée passementerie d’or et d’argent, comprenait les épaulettes, les dragonnes, les aiguillettes, enfin cette immense quantité de choses brillantes qui scintillaient sur les riches uniformes de l’armée française et sur les habits civils.

This word in other languages

bright(English)brillante(Español)brillant(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbrillant
  • birllant
  • brilalnt
  • brilant
  • brillannt
  • brillantt
  • brillatn
  • brillnat
  • brlilant
  • brrillant
  • rbillant

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of brillant - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

bbrillant1birllant2brilalnt2brilant1brillannt1brillantt1brillatn2brillnat2
Edit distance from "brillant"

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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "brillant"?
"brillant" is spelled B-R-I-L-L-A-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is \bʁi.jɑ̃\.
What does "brillant" mean?
As an adjective, "brillant" means: Qui brille.
What words are commonly confused with "brillant"?
"brillant" is commonly confused with "brûlant", "brisant", "brillent". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "brillant"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "brillant" is \bʁi.jɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "brillant" come from?
"brillant" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "brillant", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

autonome#4,909acquérir#4,906changent#4,920versions#4,902

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

vivants11 variantsdignité11 variantssexuelles11 variantsdésigne11 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list