Did you know?
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 That use is no longer current, but today biologists and geologists might use one of these synonyms: stellular, stellate, and stelliform.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
Jack Dunn, Variety, 30 May 2026
Vais’ stellar performance came after the Wildcats used their other top pitcher, senior right-hander Brayden Reiner, to walk-off Pine Creek 2-1 in Friday’s consolation semifinal.
—Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 30 May 2026
This has not been a stellar season for Newcastle, and, relative to the momentous collective achievements of his first full season as captain, Guimaraes and his side have not scaled the same heights.
—Chris Waugh, New York Times, 29 May 2026
And the photos in that X post are pretty stellar, too.
—Tyler Estep, AJC.com, 29 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for stellar
Cite this Entry
“Stellar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stellar. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
stellar
adjective
