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
Located about 162 light-years away from Earth, β CMi is encompassed by a disk of hydrogen moving incredibly fast.
—
Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 22 Oct. 2025
However, while real stars are massive, glowing balls of gas located light-years away from Earth, meteors are usually just tiny bits of rock or dust—often no bigger than a grain of sand—that come from comets or asteroids.
—Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025
That fuzzy little patch is our Milky Way Galaxy’s next-door neighbor, over 2 million light-years away, with just one light year equaling almost 6 trillion miles.
—Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 19 Oct. 2025
The jets can flow for hundreds of thousands of light-years in some cases, extending well outside the galaxy itself.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 16 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for light-year
Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 22 Oct. 2025
However, while real stars are massive, glowing balls of gas located light-years away from Earth, meteors are usually just tiny bits of rock or dust—often no bigger than a grain of sand—that come from comets or asteroids.
—Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025
That fuzzy little patch is our Milky Way Galaxy’s next-door neighbor, over 2 million light-years away, with just one light year equaling almost 6 trillion miles.
—Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 19 Oct. 2025
The jets can flow for hundreds of thousands of light-years in some cases, extending well outside the galaxy itself.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 16 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for light-year
Recent Examples of Synonyms for light-year
Noun
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But just as his career was taking flight, his personal world fell apart.—
Rhea Mogul,
CNN Money,
9 Nov. 2025
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Carrie, meanwhile, is villainized for her admittedly deluded quest to reunite with her biological son in a world that has dismissed them.—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
8 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The idea is that these are machines capable of mining resources, replicating and spreading through the galaxy over millions of years.—
Hannah Millington,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Nov. 2025
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Oscar Isaac isn't planning on a return to a galaxy far away right now, but the star is open to the possibility — on one condition.—
Mekishana Pierre,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Light-year.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/light-year. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.
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