supermoon

noun

su·​per·​moon ˈsü-pər-ˌmün 

plural supermoons

: a full moon occurring when the moon is at or near the closest point in its orbit

A supermoon … occurs when the moon is full within 24 hours of being at its closest point to the Earth in its orbit.

—Kaleigh Rogers

Visible supermoons appear 14% bigger and 30% brighter than full moons that occur at the farthest point in the moon's orbit.

—Karen Hao

As the first and only supermoon of 2017 rose high into the sky this Sunday (Dec. 3), astrophotographers seized the opportunity to shoot the moon in all its bigger-than-usual glory.

—Hanneke Weitering

Examples of supermoon in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The city will experience a total lunar eclipse on March 3, and a supermoon on May 16. —Nathaniel Levine, Sacbee.com, 5 Dec. 2025

Want to see the last supermoon of 2025? —Julia Gomez, USA Today, 5 Dec. 2025

Its close proximity to Earth can make a supermoon appear up to 14% larger and 30% brighter than the smallest full moon of the year — sometimes referred to as a micromoon — when viewed with the naked eye. —Anthony Wood, Space.com, 4 Dec. 2025

What makes December's full moon a supermoon? —Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 4 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for supermoon

• afternoon
• forenoon
• honeymoon
• laocoon
• opportune
• pantaloon
• picayune
• tablespoon
• attune
• baboon
• balloon
• bassoon