Meaning & use

brill

adjective·Everyday

Excellent or wonderful (informal British slang, short for 'brilliant').

See it in a sentence

The concert last night was absolutely brill, way better than I expected.

She said the new café's coffee was brill and insisted we try it.

A note on using this word

Brill is casual, dated British slang, most common in the 1980s and 1990s and rarely used in formal writing.

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

Another way to use it

2. noun

A flatfish related to the turbot, found in European coastal waters and valued as food.

The fishmonger recommended the fresh brill for tonight's dinner.

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