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
At present, the two black holes are separated by only around 2,600 light-years (roughly one-tenth of the distance between Earth and Sagittarius A*, the Milky Way's central black hole), with the smaller hole moving around the host galaxy's bulge.
—Ian Randall, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 May 2025
The disks the team studied range from only a few hundred to around 1,000 light-years from Earth.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 30 Apr. 2025
Named Eos, after the Greek goddess of the dawn, the cloud was found lurking some 300 light-years from our solar system and is as wide as 40 of Earth’s moon lined up across the sky.
—Katrina Miller, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025
More than nine light-years long and 7,000 light-years distant from Earth, this image of the nebula has been refreshed with the use of new processing techniques and released as part of ESA/Hubble’s 35th-anniversary celebrations.
—Alan Taylor, The Atlantic, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for light-year
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Ian Randall, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 May 2025
The disks the team studied range from only a few hundred to around 1,000 light-years from Earth.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 30 Apr. 2025
Named Eos, after the Greek goddess of the dawn, the cloud was found lurking some 300 light-years from our solar system and is as wide as 40 of Earth’s moon lined up across the sky.
—Katrina Miller, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025
More than nine light-years long and 7,000 light-years distant from Earth, this image of the nebula has been refreshed with the use of new processing techniques and released as part of ESA/Hubble’s 35th-anniversary celebrations.
—Alan Taylor, The Atlantic, 28 Apr. 2025
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 21 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share