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
Beyond distance, the counties are light-years away culturally and economically.
—
David Mark, The Washington Examiner, 5 Sep. 2025
The Butterfly Star is located around 525 light-years away in the Taurus star-forming region.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 4 Sep. 2025
The long axis delivers the crucial 20-meter resolving power in one direction, enough to separate a planet from its star at 30 light-years.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2025
Many of the brightest stars in Earth’s skies are under 1,000 light-years away.
—Ethan Siegel, Big Think, 1 Sep. 2025
Astronomers have discovered a new celestial object, a compact radio beacon located in the galaxy NGS 4945, about 12 million light-years away.
—New Atlas, 29 Aug. 2025
Primordial star formation Stars form when massive clouds of hydrogen many light-years across collapse under their own gravity.
—ArsTechnica, 27 Aug. 2025
The Outrigger telescopes enabled the team to pinpoint the fast radio burst’s point of origin to a region measuring about 45 light-years across, an area smaller than a cluster of stars.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2025
David Mark, The Washington Examiner, 5 Sep. 2025
The Butterfly Star is located around 525 light-years away in the Taurus star-forming region.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 4 Sep. 2025
The long axis delivers the crucial 20-meter resolving power in one direction, enough to separate a planet from its star at 30 light-years.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2025
Many of the brightest stars in Earth’s skies are under 1,000 light-years away.
—Ethan Siegel, Big Think, 1 Sep. 2025
Astronomers have discovered a new celestial object, a compact radio beacon located in the galaxy NGS 4945, about 12 million light-years away.
—New Atlas, 29 Aug. 2025
Primordial star formation Stars form when massive clouds of hydrogen many light-years across collapse under their own gravity.
—ArsTechnica, 27 Aug. 2025
The Outrigger telescopes enabled the team to pinpoint the fast radio burst’s point of origin to a region measuring about 45 light-years across, an area smaller than a cluster of stars.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for light-years
Noun
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Just as Neptune was discovered through its gravitational influence long before it was seen directly, hidden worlds around other stars might first reveal themselves in the shapes of surrounding dust.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
7 Sep. 2025
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That's right, pop star worlds collided when Carpenter effortlessly posed in the archival gown, which featured a sweetheart neckline embellished with silver beading.—
Michelle Lee,
PEOPLE,
7 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Not a strike of lightning from Heaven, but rather the perfect alignment of multiple moons, stars and galaxies.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
8 Sep. 2025
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Follow-up research could aim to push observations even farther, the researchers say, potentially detecting dust in the vast spaces between galaxies.—
Sharmila Kuthunur,
Space.com,
7 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Light-years.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/light-years. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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