celestial

American  

[suh-les-chuhl] / səˈlɛs tʃəl /

adjective

1. pertaining to the sky or visible heaven, or to the universe beyond the earth’s atmosphere, as in

2. pertaining to the spiritual or invisible heaven; heavenly; divine.

   celestial bliss.

   Synonyms:

   ethereal, beatific, seraphic, angelic

3. of or relating to celestial navigation.

   a celestial fix.

4. Celestial, of or relating to the former Chinese Empire or the Chinese people.

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noun

1. an inhabitant of heaven.

2. Celestial, a citizen of the Celestial Empire.

celestial British  

/ sɪˈlɛstɪəl /

adjective

1. heavenly; divine; spiritual

   celestial peace

2. of or relating to the sky

   celestial bodies

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celestial Scientific  

/ sə-lĕs′chəl /

1. Relating to the sky or the heavens. Stars and planets are celestial bodies.

2. Relating to the celestial sphere or to any of the coordinate systems by which the position of an object, such as a star or planet, is represented on it.

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Other Word Forms

• celestiality noun
• celestially adverb
• celestialness noun
• noncelestial adjective
• noncelestially adverb
• supercelestial adjective
• supercelestially adverb
• uncelestial adjective

Etymology

Origin of celestial

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Medieval Latin cēlestiālis, equivalent to Latin caelesti(s) “heavenly” ( cael(um “heaven, sky” + -estis adjective suffix) + -ālis -al ¹

Explanation

What is the difference between a celestial being and a celestial body? The first is something living such as an alien or an angel, whereas the latter is an inanimate object such as a star or a planet. Both, however, are from the sky. The word celestial is primarily used to describe things that have to do with the heavens such as angels, spirits, stars and planets. It does not come from words meaning God or soul though, but from the Latin word for "sky," caelestis, which also gave rise to the word ceiling. So really, all you have to do is look up and you'll remember what celestial means — whether you're inside or outside.

Example Sentences

Their Apollo predecessors had flown less than 100 miles over the celestial body, which gave a far different vantage point.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

So far, Artemis II has flown human beings farther than anyone has ever traveled, doing a single lap around the moon before heading home and producing some stunning photos of celestial spheres in the process.

From Salon • Apr. 7, 2026

But not all of the artist’s works have a gourmet bent — she also creates celestial goddesses and nature-inspired divas, and made a series devoted to the Major Arcana of tarot.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026

The researchers relied on the Gaia satellite mission, which has collected detailed measurements for about two billion stars and other celestial objects.

From Science Daily • Mar. 13, 2026

This would certainly have presented difficulties for the theory of the celestial spheres, and was regarded by contemporaries as being closer to the Tychonic than the Ptolemaic system.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• angelic
• divine
• ethereal
• immortal
• otherworldly
• spiritual
• sublime
• supernatural