ex·tra·ter·res·tri·al
ˌek-strə-tə-ˈre-strē-əl 
-ˈres-chəl,
-ˈresh-chəl
: originating, existing, or occurring outside the earth or its atmosphere
extraterrestrial life
: a being from another world : an extraterrestrial being
Examples of extraterrestrial in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Jordan King, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Oct. 2025
Enceladus, a small moon harboring a vast ocean beneath its icy surface, has long been considered one of our solar system's best places to search for conditions suitable for extraterrestrial life – and perhaps, even life itself.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 3 Oct. 2025
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 7 Oct. 2025
Loeb has long had a preoccupation with extraterrestrials – even co-founding the Galileo Project, a research program at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics dedicated to the search for alien life.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 2 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for extraterrestrial
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Adjective
If future observations detect telltale radio emissions from 3I/ATLAS, the finding could become a pivotal moment in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
—Jordan King, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Oct. 2025
Enceladus, a small moon harboring a vast ocean beneath its icy surface, has long been considered one of our solar system's best places to search for conditions suitable for extraterrestrial life – and perhaps, even life itself.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 3 Oct. 2025
Noun
From microbial fossils on Mars to interstellar comets to mysterious signals in deep space, there is a timeless curiosity around extraterrestrials.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 7 Oct. 2025
Loeb has long had a preoccupation with extraterrestrials – even co-founding the Galileo Project, a research program at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics dedicated to the search for alien life.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 2 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for extraterrestrial
Cite this Entry
“Extraterrestrial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extraterrestrial. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
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