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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of light-year
For the first time, the cold gas—the raw material from which stars form—of the 650-light-year-wide region known as the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) has been documented in unprecedented detail thanks to a giant telescope.
—
Michele Laufik, Martha Stewart, 26 Feb. 2026
This galaxy, located about 300 million light-years away, is practically invisible.
—Jorge Garay, Wired News, 20 Feb. 2026
Situated some 3,000 light-years away in the constellation Corona Borealis is a binary star system poised for a rare thermonuclear display.
—Michael D'estries, Travel + Leisure, 15 Feb. 2026
An exoplanetary system about 116 light-years from Earth could flip the script on how planets form, according to researchers who discovered it using telescopes from NASA and the European Space Agency, or ESA.
—Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 12 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for light-year
Michele Laufik, Martha Stewart, 26 Feb. 2026
This galaxy, located about 300 million light-years away, is practically invisible.
—Jorge Garay, Wired News, 20 Feb. 2026
Situated some 3,000 light-years away in the constellation Corona Borealis is a binary star system poised for a rare thermonuclear display.
—Michael D'estries, Travel + Leisure, 15 Feb. 2026
An exoplanetary system about 116 light-years from Earth could flip the script on how planets form, according to researchers who discovered it using telescopes from NASA and the European Space Agency, or ESA.
—Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 12 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for light-year
Recent Examples of Synonyms for light-year
Noun
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The issue reflects continuing shifts across the culinary world.—
Brock Keeling,
Oc Register,
12 Mar. 2026
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In a different world, the A’s would have executed this strategy with their players in Oakland.—
Evan Drellich,
New York Times,
12 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Astronomers captured the most detailed image yet of our galaxy’s center.—
Alexandra Banner,
CNN Money,
6 Mar. 2026
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But there are plenty of other entities in space, with the most common ones being galaxies, protogalaxies, dark molecular clouds of gas, and the ionized warm-hot intergalactic medium.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
6 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Light-year.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/light-year. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.
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