astronomical
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or connected with astronomy.
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extremely large; exceedingly great; enormous.
It takes an astronomical amount of money to build a car factory.
adjective
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enormously large; immense
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of or relating to astronomy
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of astronomical
First recorded in 1550–60; from Latin astronomic(us) (from Greek astronomikós ) + -al 1; see astronomy, -ic
Explanation
If you lie down on a big field or on a rooftop and look up, the sky is so wide and high, it is astronomical in size — bigger than huge. Everything in that sky, including the stars and planets, is also astronomical because it is part of a science called astronomy. Astra and aster are the Latin and Greek words for star, and the first four letters of astronomical, a-s-t-r, are a scramble of the word star. Astronomy includes the study of stars, but planets and other objects and happenings in space are also part of astronomical studies. Considering how large everything in space is, it makes sense that very, very large or uncountable things sometimes get the description astronomical.
Vocabulary lists containing astronomical
Eclipse Vocabulary
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From Ascension to Zenith: Astronomy and Stargazing Terms
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Elements of the Universe: Aster, Astro ("Star")
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
While the solstice is the beginning of astronomical summer, meteorologically speaking it started several weeks ago.
From BBC • Jun. 16, 2026
Even with the cash infusion, DeepSeek’s valuation is still a fraction of the astronomical market values commanded by leading American labs such as OpenAI and Anthropic.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 16, 2026
An attorney is working to get him released, but the astronomical cost of the bond payment, estimated between $15,000 and $20,000, is daunting.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 14, 2026
The next step will be applying it to real astronomical observations.
From Science Daily • Jun. 11, 2026
In 1602 Tycho Brahe published his Instruments for the Restoration of Astronomy, which provided elaborate illustrations of the new instruments he had devised for conducting astronomical observations.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
