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
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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
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Example Sentences
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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
Mitch Therieau, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2026
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
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
Photograph courtesy Netflix At the very top level of the pop-music empyrean, where the K-pop group BTS surely resides, an album release is never just an album release.
—Mitch Therieau, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2026
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
-
The look is similar to that vessel, too, but with celestial design flourishes.—
Nathan Diller,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2026
-
At its centre sat a deep porcelain tub, crowned by a celestial Bvlgari mosaic.—
Vicki Power,
TheWeek,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
True to its name, the suite is designed for early risers who can watch the skies come alive each morning—but no matter the time of day, you’ll be hypnotized by the drama of the ocean and the shifting light over the rocks.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 Apr. 2026
-
That work continued Wednesday as new photos by the Associated Press show the site of the former East Wing bustling with activity as cranes stretched toward the sky.—
Darlene Superville,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Through their various hospitality and investment groups, and their philanthropies, Sam Walton’s children and grandchildren have helped remake the town as a kind of urban utopia in the Ozarks.—
Jessica Mathews,
Fortune,
3 Apr. 2026
-
For a weekend, a gazillion distinctive fan communities blur into a linguistic utopia.—
Christopher Borrelli,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The half-industrial, half-heavenly record was recorded on the brink of a real-life meltdown; the substances Lean had rapped about so brazenly during his adolescent mixtape era would nearly claim his life.—
Billie Bugara,
Pitchfork,
1 Apr. 2026
-
For countless generations, humanity’s skyward gaze has revealed a heavenly abyss.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
23 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Lindy West’s new memoir, Adult Braces, ends with a portrait of unconventional domestic bliss.—
Tyler Austin Harper,
The Atlantic,
18 Mar. 2026
-
Juvenile bliss had long contoured this abrasive band, whose songs rattled like playgrounds, and whose shouts rang like the peals of petulant children.—
Samuel Hyland,
Pitchfork,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
All Glock horses were retired from competition and are now enjoying their retirement in a true equestrian paradise—GHPC Austria.—
Simon Akam,
Vanity Fair,
2 Apr. 2026
-
The crystal-clear blue waters of the Bahamas, a paradise for tourists, are also home to sharks — and a new study suggests these sharks are being exposed to drugs.—
Ashley J. DiMella,
FOXNews.com,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
In an interview ahead of Palm Sunday, senior pastor Robert Jeffress reflected on specific scripture that says the whole world will burn someday, but there will be a new heaven and a new earth with Christ.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
29 Mar. 2026
-
White and brown are a match made in sartorial heaven.—
Christina Perrier,
InStyle,
10 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Empyrean.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/empyrean. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
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