as in celestial
of, relating to, or suggesting heaven
movie scenes set in heaven often suggest that harps are the favored instruments for empyrean music
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in sky
a dwelling place of perfect happiness for the soul after death
ascended into the empyrean after a life filled with good deeds
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in utopia
an often imaginary place or state of utter perfection and happiness
most ticket buyers have no trouble envisioning the empyrean that winning the lottery would inevitably bring about
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 empyrean
Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 14 Jan. 2025
Larraín’s third subject, Maria Callas, despite being born to an ignoble family and having to face wartime poverty during the 1940s, was no stranger to the trappings of an empyrean existence, but in constantly having to live up to it, like Diana, her life met an untimely end.
—Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 15 Dec. 2024
The event, held high up in skyscraping event venue Glasshouse Chelsea, offered sweeping vista views of the Manhattan and New Jersey skylines meant to evoke the game’s new empyrean setting.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 26 Apr. 2023
At their best, Harjo’s poems inform each other, linking her different modes, facilitating her tendency to zoom from a personal experience to a more empyrean one.
—Maya Phillips, The New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2019
Louis leaves Prior, drawing the first line in a pattern of abandonment that informs the entire play, and finally stretches all the way into the empyrean kingdom of an absent God.
—Ben Brantley, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2018
Our badges looked different, we were afforded fewer privileges, and we were certainly kept in the dark about The Algorithm (pause for heavenly-choir noise effect) and other such empyrean secrets.
—Lucas Peterson, GQ, 22 May 2017
Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 18 July 2022
Magical empyrean is mundane Earth.
—Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2022
They are concealed in the empyrean.
—Frank Wilczek, WSJ, 14 Oct. 2021
O’Keeffe places the viewer aloft, level with the bone, high up in the empyrean.
—Roxana Robinson, The New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2021
That could quickly propel a few black schools into the athletic empyrean, and change the place of HBCUs in American culture.
—Jemele Hill, The Atlantic, 5 Sep. 2019
Adjective
In October, with three more of her novels now available in English and at least 20 other languages, the Swedish Academy awarded Han the Nobel Prize, elevating her to the empyrean realm reserved for writers of what is sometimes called world literature.
—Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 14 Jan. 2025
Larraín’s third subject, Maria Callas, despite being born to an ignoble family and having to face wartime poverty during the 1940s, was no stranger to the trappings of an empyrean existence, but in constantly having to live up to it, like Diana, her life met an untimely end.
—Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 15 Dec. 2024
The event, held high up in skyscraping event venue Glasshouse Chelsea, offered sweeping vista views of the Manhattan and New Jersey skylines meant to evoke the game’s new empyrean setting.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 26 Apr. 2023
At their best, Harjo’s poems inform each other, linking her different modes, facilitating her tendency to zoom from a personal experience to a more empyrean one.
—Maya Phillips, The New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2019
Louis leaves Prior, drawing the first line in a pattern of abandonment that informs the entire play, and finally stretches all the way into the empyrean kingdom of an absent God.
—Ben Brantley, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2018
Our badges looked different, we were afforded fewer privileges, and we were certainly kept in the dark about The Algorithm (pause for heavenly-choir noise effect) and other such empyrean secrets.
—Lucas Peterson, GQ, 22 May 2017
Noun
Betts is part of the Sox Sensation club with Fred Lynn and Nomar Garciaparra, all wildly popular and productive players who turned out to be supernovas streaking across the Boston baseball empyrean instead of franchise polestars.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 18 July 2022
Magical empyrean is mundane Earth.
—Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2022
They are concealed in the empyrean.
—Frank Wilczek, WSJ, 14 Oct. 2021
O’Keeffe places the viewer aloft, level with the bone, high up in the empyrean.
—Roxana Robinson, The New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2021
That could quickly propel a few black schools into the athletic empyrean, and change the place of HBCUs in American culture.
—Jemele Hill, The Atlantic, 5 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for empyrean
Adjective
-
Moreover, with your celestial ruler, Uranus, also retrograde in your fifth house of love, spontaneity and unpredictability reign — this could manifest in a sudden crush, a flirtatious encounter or insane sparks with someone who is the complete opposite of your type.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Upcoming celestial events Many sky-gazers around the world witnessed a total lunar eclipse over the weekend.—
Alexandra Banner,
CNN Money,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
If the sky becomes menacing and thunder becomes audible, seek out a safe place to seek shelter.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
7 Sep. 2025
-
Take a good look at Bootes now because as September rolls into October, Arcturus and Bootes will start out the evening lower and lower in the western sky.—
Mike Lynch,
Twin Cities,
7 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
This is the urban utopia that Democrats were celebrating.—
Christopher Tremoglie,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Sep. 2025
-
The Ritters’ quiet isolation is disrupted by the couple, who arrive with Wittmer’s young son, chasing the promise of an island utopia to ease their deep disillusionment with everyday reality.—
Itzel Luna,
Boston Herald,
22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Schedule in for a heavenly hammam treatment at Joali Maldives, one of just a few in the country with this traditional treatment.—
Katie Lockhart,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Sep. 2025
-
Here, Ne Zha 2 succeeds wildly; locales such as a heavenly city made entirely of jade and a towering, bamboo-verdant waterfall are rendered with genuinely beautiful texture and detail.—
Derek Robertson,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
That paradise is North Sea Jazz Festival, a 3-day celebration of local and international sonics, food and tropical bliss that descends upon the island’s capital of Willemstad each year, but with none before having gone as big as 2025’s rendition.—
Chris Barilla,
PEOPLE,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Wasuwan probed her model’s back and shoulders with a long bamboo stick, then tapped a block with a mallet on her stomach, producing a look of agonized bliss.—
Sarah Larson,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Our moments of uncanny convergence—like bumping into an old flame at the exact right (or wrong) time—function like indulgences did in the days of Martin Luther, tempting us in the promise of paradise.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Freyne does a lot with a modest budget, finding smart ways to show us fantastical things — memories playing out as if dioramas at the Natural History Museum, a vast expo hall filled with stalls advertising various paradises — on an economical scale.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
In water, adults enjoy Aurora’s partnership with SCUBA SHACK, Anguilla’s only PADI 5-Star Dive Resort, while kids find their heaven at the massive waterpark, complete with slides and a lazy river.—
Baz Dreisinger,
Forbes.com,
15 Aug. 2025
-
Eccentric Lamb Fiber Arts is a crafter’s heaven and community hub, with fibers, tools, and classes for knitters, crocheters, weavers, and more.—
Angela Lian,
Travel + Leisure,
15 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Empyrean.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/empyrean. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share