comet

noun

com·​et ˈkä-mət 

: a celestial body that appears as a fuzzy head usually surrounding a bright nucleus, that has a usually highly eccentric orbit, that consists primarily of ice and dust, and that often develops one or more long tails when near the sun

cometary

ˈkä-mə-ˌter-ē 

adjective

cometic

kə-ˈme-tik 

kä-

adjective

Examples of comet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The tail of the comet always points straight away from the sun, in antisolar direction. —Donna Vickroy, Chicago Tribune, 24 Jan. 2025

The comet was only first discovered on April 5 last year by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) survey, which has discovered around 5,000 comets so far, according to NASA. —Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 24 Jan. 2025

Or do the comets bring death from the sky by impacting those worlds and wiping out life? —Keith Cooper, Space.com, 23 Jan. 2025

There will be more American and Japanese commercial lunar landings, another private crewed space mission to the ISS, plus the usual smattering of meteor showers and comet visits, as well as the unexpected. —David Szondy, New Atlas, 18 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English comete, from Old English cometa, from Latin, from Greek komētēs, literally, long-haired, from koman to wear long hair, from komē hair

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

comet

noun

com·​et ˈkäm-ət 

: a bright heavenly body that develops a cloudy tail as it moves closer to the sun in its orbit

Etymology

Old English cometa "comet," from Latin cometa (same meaning), from Greek komētēs, literally, "long-haired," derived from komē "hair" — related to coma entry 2