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Stella, the Latin word for "star," shines brightly in the word constellation, but stella words have been favored by scientists to describe earthly things as much as heavenly bodies. Stellar was once used to mean "star-shaped." That use is no longer current, but today biologists and geologists might use one of these synonyms: stellular, stellate, and stelliform. Poets, too, have looked to stella. John Milton used stellar in its infancy when he wrote in Paradise Lost "these soft fires … shed down their stellar virtue." Stellar shot into its leading role as a synonym of star (as when we say "stellar pupil") in the late 1800s.
Examples of stellar in a Sentence
Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 20 Sep. 2025
Astronomers have unveiled the most detailed 3D map ever made of stellar nurseries in our Milky Way galaxy.
—Samantha Mathewson, Space.com, 19 Sep. 2025
Scramble to the top of Sam's Throne Trail for stellar rock formations and panoramic vistas.
—Katie Strasberg Rousso, Southern Living, 19 Sep. 2025
Relatively muted stock reactions following a series of less than stellar quarters and investor inbounds regarding long-term initiatives lead us to believe focus has increasingly shifted to the future for TSLA.
—Michael Bloom, CNBC, 19 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Stellar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stellar. Accessed 26 Sep. 2025.
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stellar
adjective
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