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 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
The pink cloud at the center of the shot is the Homunculus Nebula, a vast glowing structure of interstellar dust and gas 7,500 light-years from Earth, according to NASA, created in the wake of a cataclysmic eruption of the double star system Eta Carinae.
—Anthony Wood, Space.com, 8 Apr. 2026
The two nearly identical side-by-side clusters are approximately 7,000 light-years apart.
—Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 5 Apr. 2026
That’s a long hike—a journey of tens of millions of light-years, sometimes more, ending when one of these wayward rays is absorbed harmlessly by our atmosphere, high above our heads.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 3 Apr. 2026
Therefore, this light-blocking object has to be closer than those stars are, located much less than 100,000 light-years away at the most.
—Big Think, 26 Mar. 2026
Right now the Republican Party is light-years away from that, and those who cherish conservatism should say so.
—Peter Wehner, The Atlantic, 23 Mar. 2026
Quanta Magazine, 8 Apr. 2026
The pink cloud at the center of the shot is the Homunculus Nebula, a vast glowing structure of interstellar dust and gas 7,500 light-years from Earth, according to NASA, created in the wake of a cataclysmic eruption of the double star system Eta Carinae.
—Anthony Wood, Space.com, 8 Apr. 2026
The two nearly identical side-by-side clusters are approximately 7,000 light-years apart.
—Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 5 Apr. 2026
That’s a long hike—a journey of tens of millions of light-years, sometimes more, ending when one of these wayward rays is absorbed harmlessly by our atmosphere, high above our heads.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 3 Apr. 2026
Therefore, this light-blocking object has to be closer than those stars are, located much less than 100,000 light-years away at the most.
—Big Think, 26 Mar. 2026
Right now the Republican Party is light-years away from that, and those who cherish conservatism should say so.
—Peter Wehner, The Atlantic, 23 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for light-years
Noun
-
Cancer June 21 – July 22 Cancer, your care can bridge two worlds gracefully.—
Tarot.com,
Sun Sentinel,
10 Apr. 2026
-
As folks from across the health, tech, and business worlds were quick to point out online, at the time the NYT article was published, Medvi was being marketed on social media by a trove of Meta accounts featuring clearly fake doctors.—
Maggie Harrison Dupré,
Futurism,
9 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,
11 Apr. 2026
-
In fact, the gravitational influence of dark matter is crucial as the gravity of the visible matter in galaxies alone isn't sufficient to hold them together.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
10 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Light-years.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/light-years. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
