1
: a unit of length in astronomy equal to the distance that light travels in one year in a vacuum or about 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometers)
2
: an extremely large measure of comparison (as of distance, time, or quality)
seems like light-years ago
has light-years more talent
two minutes and yet light-years away from the crowded village—
Suzanne Patterson
Suzanne PattersonExamples of light-year in a Sentence
my sister and I are close in age, but personality-wise, there are light-years between us
Recent Examples on the Web
Each jet emerges from an actively feeding supermassive black hole, known as a quasar, located about 11.6 billion and 11.7 billion light-years away.
—Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 15 June 2025
Luhman 16 is a binary brown dwarf system just 6.5 light-years from the sun—the third closest system to us—yet was only discovered in 2013.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 12 June 2025
Jobs was light-years ahead of the pack in understanding the immense value for a tech firm of building a titanium-strength consumer brand that is synonymous with innovation, creativity and coolness.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 11 June 2025
Dusty clouds made of sand—that may rain iron—blanket a giant planet orbiting a young, sun-like star just 310 light-years from Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed.
—Ian Randall, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 June 2025
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Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 15 June 2025
Luhman 16 is a binary brown dwarf system just 6.5 light-years from the sun—the third closest system to us—yet was only discovered in 2013.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 12 June 2025
Jobs was light-years ahead of the pack in understanding the immense value for a tech firm of building a titanium-strength consumer brand that is synonymous with innovation, creativity and coolness.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 11 June 2025
Dusty clouds made of sand—that may rain iron—blanket a giant planet orbiting a young, sun-like star just 310 light-years from Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed.
—Ian Randall, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for light-year
Cite this Entry
“Light-year.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/light-year. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
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