dwarf planet

American  

[dwawrf plan-it] / ˈdwɔrf ˈplæn ɪt /

noun

Astronomy.

1. a spherical celestial body revolving about the sun, similar to a planet but not large enough to gravitationally clear its orbital region of most or all other celestial bodies. In 2006, the planet Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet.

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dwarf planet British  

noun

1. any celestial body within the solar system that is larger than a satellite but smaller than a planet, and that orbits the sun

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dwarf planet Scientific  

1. A celestial body that orbits the Sun and is massive enough to assume a nearly spherical shape, but that does not clear other bodies from the neighborhood around its orbit and is not a satellite of a planet. Dwarf planets include Ceres, Pluto, and Eris. This category was created by the International Astronomical Union in 2006.

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Etymology

Origin of dwarf planet

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

In 2018, for example, it was announced that there was a new candidate for a dwarf planet orbiting the Sun, known as 2017 OF201.

From Science Daily • Jun. 9, 2026

Pluto is now the most famous dwarf planet, though!

From Space Scoop • Oct. 15, 2025

That is why astrobiologists are increasingly turning their eyes toward icy bodies like the Jovian moons of Europa and Ganymede, Saturn’s moons Titan and Enceladus, Uranus' moon Miranda and the dwarf planet Ceres.

From Salon • Jan. 4, 2025

But the Kuiper Belt, a torus-shaped ring of gelid objects, including the dwarf planet Pluto, will have its portrait taken by VRO in considerable detail.

From National Geographic • Jan. 9, 2024

Pluto got demoted from planet to dwarf planet, but we’d never treat each other as something lesser.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera