as in world
a huge physical or conceptual distance
my sister and I are close in age, but personality-wise, there are light-years between us
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Recent Examples of light-year
Arcturus is just about 37 light-years away, or about 214 trillion miles, and that’s considered a nearby star.
—
Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 7 Sep. 2025
The closest star to the sun, Proxima Centauri, is roughly 4.2 light-years away.
—Matthew Hutson, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2025
Beyond distance, the counties are light-years away culturally and economically.
—David Mark, The Washington Examiner, 5 Sep. 2025
Primordial star formation Stars form when massive clouds of hydrogen many light-years across collapse under their own gravity.
—ArsTechnica, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for light-year
Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 7 Sep. 2025
The closest star to the sun, Proxima Centauri, is roughly 4.2 light-years away.
—Matthew Hutson, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2025
Beyond distance, the counties are light-years away culturally and economically.
—David Mark, The Washington Examiner, 5 Sep. 2025
Primordial star formation Stars form when massive clouds of hydrogen many light-years across collapse under their own gravity.
—ArsTechnica, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for light-year
Recent Examples of Synonyms for light-year
Noun
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Jackson and his family plan to send details of the catch to the International Game Fish Association with the hopes of attaining world records in both the junior record for Atlantic halibut category as well as line class for all fish.—
Toria Sheffield,
PEOPLE,
7 Sep. 2025
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The inherent coexistence of these smart systems in our world is opening up more pressing concerns.—
John Werner,
Forbes.com,
7 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Not a strike of lightning from Heaven, but rather the perfect alignment of multiple moons, stars and galaxies.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
8 Sep. 2025
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The South Pole Telescope has also helped astronomers probe the nature of dark energy, map galaxy clusters and help look at large-scale structures of the cosmos.—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry,
Space.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Light-year.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/light-year. Accessed 13 Sep. 2025.
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