Brilliant (as a scandalous headline?) (11)

I believe the answer is:

sensational

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'brilliant' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe you can see an association between them that I don't see?

I can't explain the remainder of the clue.

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(Other definitions for sensational that I've seen before include "Excellent" , "Is feeling so" , "Very impressive" , "Fantastic" , "Fabulous" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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