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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of light-years
The galaxy's red and orange spiral arms bending outward can measure tens or even hundreds of light-years across.
—
Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 13 May 2026
The magnifying glass The LAP1-B is 13 billion light-years away from Earth.
—Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 13 May 2026
The nearby universe refers to regions within about one billion light-years of Earth.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 12 May 2026
These shards travel billions of light-years across the universe and slam into Earth’s atmosphere.
—Quanta Magazine, 6 May 2026
From within our own galaxy to behemoths billions of light-years away, supermassive black holes create jets like nothing else in the cosmos.
—Big Think, 4 May 2026
Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 13 May 2026
The magnifying glass The LAP1-B is 13 billion light-years away from Earth.
—Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 13 May 2026
The nearby universe refers to regions within about one billion light-years of Earth.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 12 May 2026
These shards travel billions of light-years across the universe and slam into Earth’s atmosphere.
—Quanta Magazine, 6 May 2026
From within our own galaxy to behemoths billions of light-years away, supermassive black holes create jets like nothing else in the cosmos.
—Big Think, 4 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for light-years
Noun
-
Studios global rights to develop characters and worlds from Gripp’s full catalog.—
Diana Lodderhose,
Deadline,
14 May 2026
-
Parents may not need the nightly news to remind them to locate their children anymore — there are apps for that now — but there are many ways for kids to feel unmoored, whether in analog or digital worlds.—
Emily McClanathan,
Chicago Tribune,
14 May 2026
Noun
-
In Rubin’s first year alone, scientists expect the observatory to find 1 million undiscovered asteroids — as many as have been documented in the previous 200 years of human history — as well as thousands of comets and billions of stars and galaxies.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
15 May 2026
-
And Rubin will discover much more than TNOs, too, by virtue of its emphasis on time-domain astronomy—the study of objects such as asteroids, novae, supernovae and active galaxies that move and vary in brightness.—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
15 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Light-years.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/light-years. Accessed 18 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
