1
: a unit of length in astronomy equal to the distance that light travels in one year in a vacuum or about 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometers)
2
: an extremely large measure of comparison (as of distance, time, or quality)
seems like light-years ago
has light-years more talent
two minutes and yet light-years away from the crowded village—
Suzanne Patterson
Suzanne PattersonExamples of light-year in a Sentence
my sister and I are close in age, but personality-wise, there are light-years between us
Recent Examples on the Web
In some young star cluster within the Milky Way galaxy, about 27,000 light-years from the galactic center, a new star system has just emerged within the last 60 million years.
—Ethan Siegel, Big Think, 2 Oct. 2025
The rogue planet, which does not orbit any star, is called Cha 1107-7626 and is outside of our solar system, 620 light-years from Earth in the Chamaeleon constellation.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2025
It is located roughly 620 light-years away in the constellation Chamaeleon.
—Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 2 Oct. 2025
Farther out, the counter-jet about 6,000 light-years from the black hole appears as two filaments connected by a hotspot, forming a faint C-shape that's consistent with radio observations, the researchers note in the study.
—Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 2 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for light-year
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Ethan Siegel, Big Think, 2 Oct. 2025
The rogue planet, which does not orbit any star, is called Cha 1107-7626 and is outside of our solar system, 620 light-years from Earth in the Chamaeleon constellation.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2025
It is located roughly 620 light-years away in the constellation Chamaeleon.
—Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 2 Oct. 2025
Farther out, the counter-jet about 6,000 light-years from the black hole appears as two filaments connected by a hotspot, forming a faint C-shape that's consistent with radio observations, the researchers note in the study.
—Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 2 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for light-year
Cite this Entry
“Light-year.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/light-year. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share