galactic

adjective

ga·​lac·​tic gə-ˈlak-tik 

1

: of or relating to a galaxy and especially the Milky Way galaxy

2

: huge

a galactic sum of money

Synonyms

• giant
• vast
• huge
• gigantic
• massive
• tremendous
• enormous
• astronomical
• colossal
• astronomic
• cosmic
• mammoth
• immense
• bumper
• monumental
• planetary
• titanic
• mountainous
• oceanic
• monster
• monstrous

Examples of galactic in a Sentence

a galactic serving of soda that would have been enough for three moviegoers

Recent Examples on the Web

Behind the patchy spiral arms and glowing clouds of gas lie star-forming areas and a very active galactic core. —Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 11 Sep. 2025

All across our galactic plane, new stars are currently forming. —Ethan Siegel, Big Think, 8 Sep. 2025

Episodic ejections had been observed in nearby star-forming regions, but this is the first time they have been resolved in a star more than 15 kiloparsecs (~51,000 light-years) from the galactic center. —Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 7 Sep. 2025

The American Museum of Natural History’s new Hayden Planetarium Space show, Encounters in the Milky Way, Illuminates the cosmic movements that shape our galactic neighborhood and place in the universe. —Jane Levere, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin galacticus (taken as derivative of Galaxias "Milky Way"), borrowed from Greek galaktikós "milky," from galakt-, gála "milk" + -ikos -ic entry 1 — more at galaxy

First Known Use

1839, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for galactic

• climactic
• didactic
• syntactic
• anaphylactic
• extragalactic
• intergalactic
• stereotactic
• chemotactic
• chiropractic
• isotactic
• prophylactic
• lactic

Kids Definition

galactic

adjective

ga·​lac·​tic gə-ˈlak-tik 

: of or relating to a galaxy