brilliant vs flashy

brilliant

adj
  • Magnificent or wonderful. 

  • Highly intelligent. 

  • Both bright and saturated. 

  • Shining brightly. 

  • Having a sharp, clear tone. 

  • Of surpassing excellence. 

noun
  • A finely cut gemstone, especially a diamond, cut in a particular form with numerous facets so as to maximize light return through the top (called "table") of the stone. 

  • Most hummingbird species of the genus Heliodoxa. 

  • A kind of cotton goods, figured on the weaving. 

flashy

adj
  • Showy; visually impressive, attention-getting, or appealing. 

How often have the words brilliant and flashy occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )