apogee

noun apo·gee \ ˈa-pə-(ˌ)jē \

Updated on: 6 Apr 2018

Definition of apogee

1 : the point in the orbit of an object (such as a satellite) orbiting the earth that is at the greatest distance from the center of the earth; also : the point farthest from a planet or a satellite (such as the moon) reached by an object orbiting it — compare perigee

2 : the farthest or highest point : culmination

Aegean civilization reached its apogee in Crete.

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apogean

play \ˌa-pə-ˈjē-ən\ adjective

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Examples of apogee in a Sentence

shag carpeting reached the apogee of its popularity in the 1970s but is now considered outdated

Recent Examples of apogee from the Web

Tiangong-1 had a slightly lower apogee of 223 miles.

— jeffrey kluger, Time, "China's Falling Space Station Won't Land On Your Head. Probably.," 28 Mar. 2018
The great apogee, the farthest distance from Earth, will minimize obstruction and interference from our planet.

— dennis overbye, New York Times, "Meet TESS, Seeker of Alien Worlds," 26 Mar. 2018
Change is a baseball constant as veterans' careers pass their apogees and younger players' approach theirs.

— george will, Anchorage Daily News, "Play ball, with informed intelligence," 13 Feb. 2018
Andreas Christensen, a Dane, is the apogee of Chelsea’s youth system.

— rory smith, New York Times, "At Global Clubs, Local Players Serve as Connective Tissue," 6 Feb. 2018
But caviar’s apogee is considered to be Beluga, with its larger, almost coal-colored spheres and subtle taste.

— Time, "Your High Quality Caviar Might Just Be Made in China," 20 Dec. 2017
Supermodelmania, the 21st-century version, is reaching its apogee.

— vanessa friedman, New York Times, "The New Supermodelmania of 2017," 14 Dec. 2017
Faith in the presidency may have reached its apogee soon after the Second World War.

— ken burns, The Atlantic, "How the Vietnam War Broke the American Presidency," 12 Sep. 2017
Martin’s obsession with soup reaches its apogee in A Dance With Dragons, the fifth book in the cycle.

— jacob mikanowski, Slate Magazine, "A Song of Ice and Fire and Soup," 5 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'apogee.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Of apogees, climaxes, and culminations

Apogee is often used in its figurative sense, signifying the high point of a career, endeavor, or state (“she was at the apogee of her profession”). This meaning developed as a metaphorical extension of the word’s astronomical sense, denoting the farthest distance from earth of an object orbiting the planet.

A number of other English words that are synonymous with apogee have followed a similar path of figurative development from a technical meaning. Climax (“the most interesting and exciting part of something”) came into English as a term for a series of phrases arranged in ascending order of rhetorical forcefulness. And, very much like apogee, culmination (“the final result of something”) is also rooted in astronomy: it originally referred to the highest point a celestial body reaches in its daily revolution (for example, the sun’s height at noon).

Illustration of apogee

Origin and Etymology of apogee

French apogée, from New Latin apogaeum, from Greek apogaion, from neuter of apogeios, apogaios far from the earth, from apo- + gē, gaia earth

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1640

in the meaning defined at sense 2

See Words from the same year

apogee Synonyms

Other Astronomy Terms

gibbous, nadir, nebulous, penumbra, retrograde, sidereal, syzygy, wane, wax, zenith

APOGEE Defined for English Language Learners

apogee

noun

Definition of apogee for English Language Learners

: the highest point of something
: the point in outer space where an object traveling around the Earth (such as a satellite or the moon) is farthest away from the Earth