outer planet
noun
: any of the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune whose orbits lie beyond the asteroid belt
Examples of outer planet in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
And Helios could reduce the transit time to the outer planets significantly, allowing researchers to gather and analyze data much more quickly.
—
Mike Wall, Space.com, 2 June 2026
As Earth moves away from Jupiter — a slow-moving outer planet — the gas giant appears lower in the west each evening and will eventually disappear into the sun’s glare by late July.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 25 May 2026
Neptune, the eighth and most distant planet from the sun, stands out among the outer planets in our solar system for its odd group of moons.
—Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 20 May 2026
The technology could also support missions to Neptune and Triton, long-duration probes studying outer planet moons, and future Kuiper Belt explorers traveling farther than New Horizons.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 15 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for outer planet
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.
Mike Wall, Space.com, 2 June 2026
As Earth moves away from Jupiter — a slow-moving outer planet — the gas giant appears lower in the west each evening and will eventually disappear into the sun’s glare by late July.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 25 May 2026
Neptune, the eighth and most distant planet from the sun, stands out among the outer planets in our solar system for its odd group of moons.
—Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 20 May 2026
The technology could also support missions to Neptune and Triton, long-duration probes studying outer planet moons, and future Kuiper Belt explorers traveling farther than New Horizons.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 15 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for outer planet
Cite this Entry
“Outer planet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/outer%20planet. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
