extraterrestrial

adjective ex·tra·ter·res·tri·al \ ˌek-strə-tə-ˈre-strē-əl , -ˈres-chəl , -ˈresh-chəl \

|Updated on: 6 Jul 2018

Definition of extraterrestrial

: originating, existing, or occurring outside the earth or its atmosphere

extraterrestrial life

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Recent Examples of extraterrestrial from the Web

But in the subtle, creeping way of Arrival and Contact, where an extraterrestrial presence brings terror that’s beyond anything our tiny minds can comprehend.

— the editors of gq, GQ, "The Best Movies of 2018 (So Far)," 19 June 2018
At one end supermarket tabloids published stories and grainy pictures of extraterrestrial landings and improbable celebrity shenanigans.

— amar bhidé, WSJ, "Skepticism Beats Snopes as an Antidote to Fake News," 8 June 2018
Among the tasting rooms, The Valley Project stands out for its array of Pinots and Cab Francs and an enchanting blackboard map of Santa Barbara wine regions; Area 5.1 for its goofy but cool extraterrestrial vibe.

— peter fish, SFChronicle.com, "Wandering Santa Barbara’s wonders more carefree when you’re car-free," 15 June 2018
For all of their extraterrestrial economic ambitions, SpaceX and Blue Origin are seen as passion projects, vestiges of a time when Americans dreamed big.

— alex shephard, The New Republic, "For Jeff Bezos, Space Is the Place," 31 May 2018
In fact, most Americans believe in extraterrestrial life.

— dan zak, courant.com, "UFOs are suddenly a serious news story - you can thank the guy from Blink-182 for that," 30 May 2018
In fact, most Americans believe in extraterrestrial life.

— dan zak, chicagotribune.com, "UFOs are suddenly a serious news story — you can thank the guy from Blink-182 for that," 30 May 2018
These discoveries have completely reframed the odds behind the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

— meghan bartels, Newsweek, "Do Aliens Exist? Human Technology May Prevent Us From Finding Out," 1 Mar. 2018
In 2013, geologists studying the Hypatia stone confirmed the rock was of extraterrestrial origin.

— jay bennett, Popular Mechanics, "Incredible 'Hypatia' Stone Contains Compounds Not Found in the Solar System," 10 Jan. 2018

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

First Known Use of extraterrestrial

1848

in the meaning defined above

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extraterrestrial

noun

Definition of extraterrestrial

: a being from another world : an extraterrestrial being

Recent Examples of extraterrestrial from the Web

Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera, a former city councilwoman from the west Dade suburb of Doral, has publicly discussed meeting extraterrestrials as a child.

— david smiley and alex daugherty, miamiherald, "They've met aliens and dictators and slimed Al Gore: Meet Ros-Lehtinen's would-be heirs | Miami Herald," 23 May 2018
Alex Sharp leads the cast, which includes Nicole Kidman (as a human) and Elle Fanning and Ruth Wilson (as extraterrestrials).

— ben kenigsberg, New York Times, "Summer 2018 Movie Release Schedule," 4 May 2018
So how close are the nearest signaling extraterrestrials?

— NBC News, "Simple math shows how many space aliens may be out there," 26 Jan. 2018
In Space Opera, humanity is living blissfully unaware of alien life, until extraterrestrials appear and invite them into an advanced intergalactic civilization.

— andrew liptak, The Verge, "Space Opera is the funniest science fiction novel I’ve read since Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy," 14 Apr. 2018
Would Boyajian have really raised so much money if KIC 8462852 hadn’t generated so much hype about intelligent extraterrestrials?

— neel v. patel, Slate Magazine, "How Interesting Does Science Have to Be for the Public to Fund It?," 4 Jan. 2018
The search for extraterrestrials is very expensive.

— meghan bartels, Newsweek, "Do Aliens Exist? Human Technology May Prevent Us From Finding Out," 1 Mar. 2018
Perhaps extraterrestrials had constructed a titanic array of solar panels around the star, a hypothetical concept proposed years ago by physicist Freeman Dyson.

— ben guarino, Washington Post, "The strangest star in the sky finally has an explanation for its flicker," 3 Jan. 2018
Voyagers 1 and 2 both carry a Golden Record, intended to play the sounds of our planet for any advanced extraterrestrials who might one day find a lonely spacecraft and wonder what the people who built it were like.

— andrew moseman, Popular Mechanics, "You Can Now Listen to the Voyager Golden Record Online," 28 July 2015

First Known Use of extraterrestrial

1950

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

EXTRATERRESTRIAL Defined for English Language Learners

extraterrestrial

adjective

Definition of extraterrestrial for English Language Learners

: coming from or existing outside the planet Earth

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Spanish Central: Translation of extraterrestrial Nglish: Translation of extraterrestrial for Spanish speakers

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