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
Your rocket ship will have already traveled more than 10 light-years (but less than 15), but someone back on Earth will have experienced more than 20 years of time passing.
—
Big Think, 12 Mar. 2026
The merger occurred around 910 million light-years away, resulting in the creation of a daughter black hole with around 13 times the mass of the sun.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 11 Mar. 2026
Sprawling galaxies and cosmic structures that expand for light-years have often been the focus of the observatory’s infrared gaze, but so have distant, faint objects.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 10 Mar. 2026
Stars are gigantic fusion reactors light-years away that do not shape our personalities or life events.
—Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 8 Mar. 2026
Big Think, 12 Mar. 2026
The merger occurred around 910 million light-years away, resulting in the creation of a daughter black hole with around 13 times the mass of the sun.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 11 Mar. 2026
Sprawling galaxies and cosmic structures that expand for light-years have often been the focus of the observatory’s infrared gaze, but so have distant, faint objects.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 10 Mar. 2026
Stars are gigantic fusion reactors light-years away that do not shape our personalities or life events.
—Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 8 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for light-years
Noun
-
The revelation that Maas has three or four complete unpublished manuscripts for entirely different series on her computer speaks to the prolific nature of her creative output and raises the possibility that readers may someday have access to entirely new worlds from the author.—
Hanna Wickes,
Charlotte Observer,
5 Mar. 2026
-
This question, which references concepts from Maas’s book worlds, received the most evasive response of the entire segment.—
Hanna Wickes,
Kansas City Star,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Of course, there are also regions that have hot, ionized material in the way, such as around active galaxies or in passing through galaxy clusters that have hot, X-ray emitting intracluster mediums.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
6 Mar. 2026
-
By tracking that glow, scientists can trace not just bright galaxies but also the diffuse gas that surrounds and connects them.—
Samantha Mathewson,
Space.com,
5 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Light-years.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/light-years. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
