light-years

noun

plural of light-year
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 Scientists have previously speculated that a GRB would vaporize anything caught in its death rays up to 200 light-years from the source. — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026 Found about 37 million light-years from Earth, this galaxy sparkles in this side-on view. — Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 20 Oct. 2026 This star is about 7,232 degrees Fahrenheit (4,000 degrees Celsius) and around 284 light-years away from Earth. — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 15 Oct. 2026 About 65 million light-years from Earth, three galaxies don’t look quite right. — Quanta Magazine, 14 Oct. 2026 Smart home control, routines, general queries, calendar management, and shopping are light-years ahead of pre-AI Alexa, mostly because the new Alexa understands me better. — Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, The Verge, 8 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for light-years
  1. worlds
  2. galaxies
Noun
  • Some may think the two worlds don’t collide, but Bath insists there is a connection.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 24 Oct. 2026
  • In reality, there are no heroes and no glory, only worlds that collapse and dreams that shatter.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of worlds
Noun
  • The universe is rife with galaxies, stars and worlds that change very little during an astronomer’s brief time on Earth.
    — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • This image was captured as part of a larger Hubble survey that's exploring 260 satellite galaxies, which are galaxies gravitationally bound to larger hosts.
    — Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of galaxies

Browse Nearby Words

light-year
light-years
likability
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Light-years.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/light-years. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of milieu

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All