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
Relevance
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
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Recent Examples of luminaries
The book looks at how such pop music came to dominate Coachella’s headlining slots, how the festival’s cutting edge livestream bolstered growth and how the rise of social media helped make the polo field into a weekend-long catwalk for models, movie stars, influencers and other cultural luminaries.
—
Billboard Staff, Billboard, 21 Oct. 2025
At just 51 years old, D’Angelo joined the ranks of many Black luminaries who shined brightly but not long.
—Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 18 Oct. 2025
After Johnson gave his answer to that resolutely dumb question, several other luminaries took a whack at the zeitgeist piñata.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 17 Oct. 2025
The opening night, on February 26, 1951, was attended by such luminaries as Thornton Wilder, Richard Wilbur, and Archibald MacLeish.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
The Palestinian producer behind The Sea, Israel’s contender for Best International Feature at the Oscars, has argued that it is misguided for Hollywood luminaries to boycott filmmakers in the country.
—Jake Kanter, Deadline, 10 Oct. 2025
Its founders, Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng, are considered to be artificial intelligence luminaries.
—Ashley Capoot,kif Leswing, CNBC, 6 Oct. 2025
The event, scheduled to take place at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, was to feature such film-music luminaries as John Carpenter, Questlove (performing the soundtrack work of Curtis Mayfield), Danny Elfman, Mark Mothersbaugh and Hildur Guðnadóttir amid a robust schedule (see it here).
—Jem Aswad, Variety, 3 Oct. 2025
Albert Lee The 81-year-old Englander has been making music since the 1950s, gaining a reputation as quite the guitar hero working alongside luminaries from a number of genres.
—Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 29 Sep. 2025
Billboard Staff, Billboard, 21 Oct. 2025
At just 51 years old, D’Angelo joined the ranks of many Black luminaries who shined brightly but not long.
—Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 18 Oct. 2025
After Johnson gave his answer to that resolutely dumb question, several other luminaries took a whack at the zeitgeist piñata.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 17 Oct. 2025
The opening night, on February 26, 1951, was attended by such luminaries as Thornton Wilder, Richard Wilbur, and Archibald MacLeish.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
The Palestinian producer behind The Sea, Israel’s contender for Best International Feature at the Oscars, has argued that it is misguided for Hollywood luminaries to boycott filmmakers in the country.
—Jake Kanter, Deadline, 10 Oct. 2025
Its founders, Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng, are considered to be artificial intelligence luminaries.
—Ashley Capoot,kif Leswing, CNBC, 6 Oct. 2025
The event, scheduled to take place at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, was to feature such film-music luminaries as John Carpenter, Questlove (performing the soundtrack work of Curtis Mayfield), Danny Elfman, Mark Mothersbaugh and Hildur Guðnadóttir amid a robust schedule (see it here).
—Jem Aswad, Variety, 3 Oct. 2025
Albert Lee The 81-year-old Englander has been making music since the 1950s, gaining a reputation as quite the guitar hero working alongside luminaries from a number of genres.
—Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 29 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for luminaries
Noun
-
Elordi was among the stable of young stars who shot to fame when Euphoria premiered on HBO in 2019.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
20 Oct. 2025
-
In Hubble's recent image, NGC 6951 unfurls its graceful spiral arms, covered in red nebulae glowing with hydrogen gas, a key fuel for new stars.—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry,
Space.com,
20 Oct. 2025
Noun
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SpaceX and Blue Origin are drawing celebrities like Katy Perry, Tom Hanks, and Kim Kardashian into a new era of luxury space tourism.—
Rosanna Philpott,
CNN Money,
24 Oct. 2025
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Rod Wave Elite is a popular high school basketball squad that bounces around the country playing exhibition games to crowds of rabid teens and internet celebrities.—
Alphonse Pierre,
Pitchfork,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Its images have illuminated how galaxies form, evolve and recycle their material through generations of star birth and death.—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry,
Space.com,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Those features then show up at late times, imprinted in the Big Bang’s leftover glow (the cosmic microwave background, or CMB), as well as in the large-scale clustering of galaxies.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
17 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Hough competed against fellow DWTS personalities Bruno Tonioli and Jenna Johnson-Chmerkovskiy in the premiere of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune last month.—
Wesley Stenzel,
Entertainment Weekly,
18 Oct. 2025
-
But if the plot is about swapping fortunes, the watches in the movie are about swapping personalities.—
Abby Montanez,
Robb Report,
17 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The images could help scientists further develop theories of how matter behaves in the extreme environments around supermassive black holes, which have masses of millions or even billions of suns and are found at the hearts of all large galaxies.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
16 Sep. 2025
-
This new black hole, which is as heavy as 50 million suns and is dubbed QSO1, clashes with the old, provisional account of the galaxy formation process, which did not start with black holes.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Viewership for the postseason thus far has reached levels unseen since 2017, according to figures released by MLB on Wednesday.—
The Athletic MLB Staff,
New York Times,
23 Oct. 2025
-
The site has housed many historical figures over the years, from Queen Margaret to Mary, Queen of Scots.—
Sophie Friedman,
AFAR Media,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
If conditions are right, the clusters swirl into a storm known as a tropical wave or tropical depression.—
Gabe Hauari,
USA Today,
15 Oct. 2025
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These self-organizing clusters start producing blood after about two weeks in the lab, mimicking the process seen in human embryos.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The building served as a guesthouse for important visitors and dignitaries, and was first uncovered by a team of German archeologists between 1875 and 1881, per the Greek Ministry of Culture.—
Toria Sheffield,
PEOPLE,
18 Oct. 2025
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Several other dignitaries, active-duty troops and family members attended the event on base.—
Kristina Davis,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
18 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Luminaries.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/luminaries. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
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