brilhar
Portuguese, verb/bɾiˈʎa(ʁ)/
brilhar is spelled B-R-I-L-H-A-R (7 letters) and appears 6.6 times per million words in written Portuguese, the 9,972nd most frequent Portuguese word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Brilhar is a Portuguese verb meaning “to shine, to emit or reflect light” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) defines it as “despedir brilho”.
What does brilhar mean in English?
verb
- 1
to shine, to emit or reflect light
Não há muito que ver por aqui; grama crescendo no solo e estrelas brilhando no céu.
- 2
to seem it is shining, to have the effect of being shining
Ela estava muito feliz, os seus olhos brilhavam.
- 3
to shine, to excel
Um dia vou brilhar como uma famosa cantora!
Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Portuguese dictionaries define it
verb: 1. despedir brilho 2. reluzir 3. cintilar 4. mostrar-se; notabilizar-se
The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.
Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of brilhar
- brilho first-person present singular
- brilhei first-person preterite singular
- brilhado participle past
- brilhares infinitive second-person singular
- brilharmos first-person infinitive plural
- brilhardes infinitive plural second-person
- brilharem infinitive plural third-person
- brilhando gerund
- brilhados masculine participle past
- brilhada feminine participle past
- brilhadas feminine participle past
- brilhas indicative present second-person
- brilha indicative present singular
- brilhamos first-person indicative plural
- brilhais indicative plural present
- brilham indicative plural present
- brilhava first-person imperfect indicative
- brilhavas imperfect indicative second-person
Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce brilhar?
- Brazil /bɾiˈʎa(ʁ)/
- Brazil [bɾiˈʎa(h)]
- /bɾiˈʎa(ɾ)/
Sources: English Wiktionary, Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to brilhar
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is brilhar in Portuguese?
brilhar appears 6.6 times per million words in written Portuguese.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).