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Stella, the Latin word for "star," shines brightly in the word constellation, but stella words have been favored by scientists to describe earthly things as much as heavenly bodies. Stellar was once used to mean "star-shaped." That use is no longer current, but today biologists and geologists might use one of these synonyms: stellular, stellate, and stelliform. Poets, too, have looked to stella. John Milton used stellar in its infancy when he wrote in Paradise Lost "these soft fires … shed down their stellar virtue." Stellar shot into its leading role as a synonym of star (as when we say "stellar pupil") in the late 1800s.
Examples of stellar in a Sentence
Giulia Carbonaro, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025
But Mauve, Tessenyi said, will help the researchers zoom in on the most promising stellar systems, to make Twinkle's work easier.
—Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 17 Oct. 2025
They’re not only backed by stellar customer ratings, but also are reasonably priced.
—Alicia Geigel, Southern Living, 17 Oct. 2025
Then, after a stellar year before the Games, Su was chosen to represent his nation.
—Ben Church, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Stellar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stellar. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
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stellar
adjective
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