interstellar

adjective in·ter·stel·lar \ ˌin-tər-ˈste-lər \

|Updated on: 23 Jun 2018

: located, taking place, or traveling among the stars especially of the Milky Way galaxy

See interstellar defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of interstellar from the Web

The backdrop behind them flashed interstellar CGI imagery of alien desert landscapes and striking geometric figures while Jonas crooned the moody dance track and Mustard hyped the crowd.

— joe lynch, Billboard, "Nick Jonas & Mustard Bring Otherworldly 'Anywhere' to 2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards," 18 June 2018
Scientists have discovered some of the original interstellar dust that formed the Earth and the Solar System billions of years ago, a new study said.

— editors, USA TODAY, "'Little Rocket Man' vs. 'deranged U.S. dotard': The historic showdown is just hours away," 11 June 2018
The spacecraft, which will be unmanned, will be loaded with 10 scientific instruments, including one that will provide imaging of the heliosphere and track the flow of interstellar neutral atoms, Schwadron said.

— elise takahama, BostonGlobe.com, "NASA selects UNH researchers for mission to study safer space travel," 8 June 2018
An interstellar object today would have to traverse vast amounts of space to enter our solar system.

— amina khan, latimes.com, "Stolen from another sun: This backward-traveling asteroid could be an interstellar space fossil," 22 May 2018
Asteroid orbiting backward around Jupiter is first 'interstellar immigrant' from beyond our solar system.

— Fox News, "FOX NEWS FIRST: Republicans want 2nd special counsel for alleged DOJ, FBI misconduct; Trump-S. Korea leader meeting," 22 May 2018
In 2017, the first observed interstellar visitor, an asteroid named 'Oumuamua, was found traveling through our solar system.

— ashley strickland, CNN, "This object isn't supposed to be in our solar system," 21 May 2018
Plans are afoot to send fleets of spaceships the size of iPhone chips toward Alpha Centauri, like clouds of butterflies across interstellar space.

— dennis overbye, New York Times, "‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ Is Still the ‘Ultimate Trip’," 10 May 2018
Astronomers tap Gaia’s data to better understand the workings of the galaxy, including the motion of stars, their speed, and also how interstellar dust interacts with galactic objects.

— shannon stirone, WIRED, "Star Search: Gaia Tallies Up Our Milky Way," 29 Apr. 2018

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