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
The company has stripped away the complexity, allowing anyone to snap spectacular images of galaxies and nebulae hundreds of light-years away without wrestling with multi-component setups requiring serious technical chops – all wrapped in Vaonis's trademark minimalist design.
—New Atlas, 26 Jan. 2026
The protostar, called EC 53, lies about 1,300 light-years from Earth and is surrounded by a disk of gas and dust where planets and other bodies are taking shape.
—Samantha Mathewson, Space.com, 26 Jan. 2026
Ryan Gosling stars as Ryland Grace, a middle-school teacher tapped for a mission to a solar system 12 light-years away to save humanity before a catastrophe wipes out Earth.
—Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 24 Jan. 2026
Radio images captured a one-million-light-year-long stream of star-forming particles and gas emanating from the black hole at the center of the galaxy J1007+3540—which apparently is erupting for the first time in about 100 million years.
—K. R. Callaway, Scientific American, 24 Jan. 2026
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New Atlas, 26 Jan. 2026
The protostar, called EC 53, lies about 1,300 light-years from Earth and is surrounded by a disk of gas and dust where planets and other bodies are taking shape.
—Samantha Mathewson, Space.com, 26 Jan. 2026
Ryan Gosling stars as Ryland Grace, a middle-school teacher tapped for a mission to a solar system 12 light-years away to save humanity before a catastrophe wipes out Earth.
—Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 24 Jan. 2026
Radio images captured a one-million-light-year-long stream of star-forming particles and gas emanating from the black hole at the center of the galaxy J1007+3540—which apparently is erupting for the first time in about 100 million years.
—K. R. Callaway, Scientific American, 24 Jan. 2026
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 3 Feb. 2026.
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