luminaries

noun

plural of luminary
1
as in stars
a ball-shaped gaseous celestial body that shines by its own light awed by the vast number of luminaries in the night sky

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in celebrities
a person who is widely known and usually much talked about luminaries from the worlds of sports, entertainment, and politics were at the gala

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 luminaries Chicago presses and luminaries have churned out an unusual number of music books this year, with a little something for everyone. — Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026 Nominated for five Critics Choice Documentary Awards, the film compiles footage William Greaves shot in 1972 of a gathering of Harlem Renaissance luminaries at Duke Ellington’s townhouse. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 22 Oct. 2026 In 1972, William Greaves brought together an extraordinary gathering of surviving artists, writers, and cultural luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance at Duke Ellington’s townhouse for an afternoon of debate, reflection, laughter, and exchange. — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 22 Oct. 2026 His art often featured jazz luminaries, boxers, and other figures along with graffiti-like words. — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 21 Oct. 2026 Sure, Sol LeWitt's swirls are here, but MASS MoCA is also home to incredible music, dance, theater, performance art, and film by luminaries like Wilco and David Byrne. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Oct. 2026 Meanwhile, Julia’s War helped launch the careers of indie luminaries like Wednesday and Feeble Little Horse, and their rolodex currently boasts promising up-and-comers like Cashier and MX Lonely. — Abby Jones, Pitchfork, 19 Oct. 2026 Just this week, luminaries like Neil Young and Hideo Kojima came out of the woodwork to proclaim the film a misunderstood masterpiece. — Nate Jones, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2026 Of course, the West itself is a nebulous concept, one that was wholly absent from the ancient Greek and Roman luminaries who ground its canon. — Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for luminaries
  1. stars
  2. celebrities
  3. galaxies
  4. personalities
  5. suns
  6. figures
  7. clusters
  8. dignitaries
Noun
  • That’s despite the series missing arguably the game’s biggest stars.
    — Don Riddell, CNN Money, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Gogglebox for Stand Up To Cancer has attracted some big names in recent years including Hollywood stars Kieran Culkin and Josh Hartnett last year.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of stars
Noun
  • Below, scroll on for all of the celebrities who showed up for the 2026 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show red carpet.
    — Christian Allaire, Vogue, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Fellow celebrities on this season include Bella Ramsey, Miranda Hart, Michael Sheen, Sebastian Croft, James Blunt, Ross Kemp, Jerry Hall, Myha’la, Joe Lycett, Sharon Rooney and Leigh-Anne Pinnock.
    — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of celebrities
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
Noun
  • The story is told from the perspective of infant twins with divergent personalities—Rose is unguardedly buoyant, whereas Marigold is watchful and introspective.
    — Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
  • But there is so much more to these characters than their surface personalities.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of personalities
Noun
  • Reportedly, the finished cell retained over 90% of its initial efficiency after 569 hours of continuous, maximum-power operation under simulated suns.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 28 Sep. 2026
  • And this image has no shortage of suns, with twinkling stars speckling the entire cosmic landscape, diffraction spikes and all.
    — Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of suns
Noun
  • These figures therefore should not be treated as interchangeable measures of payload capacity.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 20 Oct. 2026
  • More than 1,500 businesses were affected nationwide, according to the FCD figures.
    — Rhonda Richford, Footwear News, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of figures
Noun
  • The Milky Way runs straight through it, bringing with it three bright open star clusters — M36, M37 and M38.
    — Jamie Carter, Space.com, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Inspired by the rounded shapes of water droplets, the 22-piece collection features clusters of natural diamonds in varying sizes, set across sculptural surfaces of 14-karat yellow gold.
    — Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of clusters
Noun
  • Kathleen Kennedy, who served as the president of Lucasfilm from 2012 to 2026, helped organize a group of industry dignitaries to put together a framework for how Hollywood should talk about it.
    — Corbin Bolies, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026
  • By the late 1800s, the resort was a favorite destination for US Presidents (23 presidents have visited the property), foreign dignitaries and global business leaders.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of dignitaries

Browse Nearby Words

luminance
luminaries
luminary
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Cite this Entry

“Luminaries.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/luminaries. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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