as in worlds
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-years
This work was done using Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3, which can see tens of millions of light-years into the universe while still managing to capture incredible details of objects like M88.
—
Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 10 June 2026
This dazzling celestial object, dubbed the Crystal Ball Nebula, lies about 1,500 light-years from Earth in the Taurus constellation.
—Daniel Wine, CNN Money, 9 June 2026
Vega is 26 light-years away from Earth, with one light-year equaling nearly six trillion miles.
—Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 7 June 2026
The star system in question, HD 81809, lies in the constellation Hydra and is roughly 90 to 101 light-years from Earth.
—Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 6 June 2026
Despite being located about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices, M88 is a fairly bright object in the night sky.
—Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 30 May 2026
Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 10 June 2026
This dazzling celestial object, dubbed the Crystal Ball Nebula, lies about 1,500 light-years from Earth in the Taurus constellation.
—Daniel Wine, CNN Money, 9 June 2026
Vega is 26 light-years away from Earth, with one light-year equaling nearly six trillion miles.
—Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 7 June 2026
The star system in question, HD 81809, lies in the constellation Hydra and is roughly 90 to 101 light-years from Earth.
—Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 6 June 2026
Despite being located about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices, M88 is a fairly bright object in the night sky.
—Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 30 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for light-years
Noun
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The Sacramento region has been filled with changes in the business and restaurant worlds, with a number of openings and closings this spring.—
Emma Hall,
Sacbee.com,
11 June 2026
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The gulf between their two worlds is wide, and Jude straddles it with wide-ranging intellect and his characteristic impish wit, while also telling a surprisingly heartfelt story about the lengths to which a mother will go for love.—
Christopher Vourlias,
Variety,
11 June 2026
Noun
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Scientists can draw on it to identify and study 100,000 exoplanets, hundreds of millions of galaxies, billions of stars, and rare objects and phenomena — including some that astronomers have never witnessed before.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
12 June 2026
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Quasars are the extremely active supermassive black holes at the heart of some galaxies, furiously feeding on gas that is being shoveled towards their maw, and growing as a result of this voracious feeding.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
12 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Light-years.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/light-years. Accessed 15 Jun. 2026.
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