The Fawn-breasted Brilliant belongs to the same family as the Empress Brilliant, and as such it shares some of the anatomical features, like the elongated face and an iridescent gorget, this time in pink. It has a green brilliant head and cinnamon underparts which are rather dull, with brownish wings. The bill is fairly large and black, and is slightly curved down.

The pink gorget is eye catching in this hummingbird, whose body is mostly brown with a green head.