as in world
a huge physical or conceptual distance
my sister and I are close in age, but personality-wise, there are light-years between us
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Recent Examples of light-year
Using data from two international networks of radio telescopes, researchers pinned down the energetics of jets erupting from a black hole in a system called Cygnus X-1, some 7,200 light-years from Earth.
—
Lee Billings, Scientific American, 16 Apr. 2026
The weak force is so weak, however, that a neutrino could travel through light-years of lead without altering a single atom.
—Quanta Magazine, 8 Apr. 2026
At more than 440 million light-years away from Earth, the two black holes are inseparable even when seen through astronomy’s most advanced tools.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 8 Apr. 2026
Europe is light-years ahead of the U.S. in adopting the technology, especially Germany, where more than a million of the systems are already in use.
—Drew Kann, AJC.com, 6 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for light-year
Lee Billings, Scientific American, 16 Apr. 2026
The weak force is so weak, however, that a neutrino could travel through light-years of lead without altering a single atom.
—Quanta Magazine, 8 Apr. 2026
At more than 440 million light-years away from Earth, the two black holes are inseparable even when seen through astronomy’s most advanced tools.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 8 Apr. 2026
Europe is light-years ahead of the U.S. in adopting the technology, especially Germany, where more than a million of the systems are already in use.
—Drew Kann, AJC.com, 6 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for light-year
Recent Examples of Synonyms for light-year
Noun
-
The money bitterly divided the golf world.—
Zach Helfand,
New Yorker,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Hoka sponsors several road and track, trail, and triathlon athletes, as well as road races like the Big Sur International Marathon, and is generally a big name in the running world.—
Madison Flager,
Condé Nast Traveler,
22 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The European Space Agency telescope is designed to make a 3D map of the universe by looking at billions of galaxies up to 10 billion light years away across one third of the sky.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
19 Apr. 2026
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Ever dreamt of being present during the birth of the first galaxies?—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
19 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Light-year.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/light-year. Accessed 25 Apr. 2026.
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