supermoon

noun

su·​per·​moon ˈsü-pər-ˌmün 

plural supermoons

: a full moon occurring when the moon is at or near the closest point in its orbit

A supermoon … occurs when the moon is full within 24 hours of being at its closest point to the Earth in its orbit.

—Kaleigh Rogers

Visible supermoons appear 14% bigger and 30% brighter than full moons that occur at the farthest point in the moon's orbit.

—Karen Hao

As the first and only supermoon of 2017 rose high into the sky this Sunday (Dec. 3), astrophotographers seized the opportunity to shoot the moon in all its bigger-than-usual glory.

—Hanneke Weitering

Examples of supermoon in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There will be three supermoons this year, on October 7, November 5 and December 4. —Phil Plait, Scientific American, 9 Jan. 2025

Additionally, there will be three supermoons in a row starting in October. —Chandelis Duster, NPR, 1 Jan. 2025

There will be three supermoons in 2025 — on Oct. 7, Nov. 5 and Dec. 4 — with November's being the biggest and brightest since 2019. —Jamie Carter, Space.com, 29 Dec. 2024

Michigan will see six supermoons in 2025, according to Moonphasetoday.org. —Jenna Prestininzi, Detroit Free Press, 27 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined above