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.
Just because he pioneers industrial revolutions doesn’t mean his companies will capture an astronomical share of the resulting value.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 16, 2026
Minor coastal flooding is also possible in low-lying areas, as high astronomical tides of 7.5 to 7.9 feet are expected each evening through Monday, according to the weather service.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 13, 2026
The numbers are astronomical and the rivalry continued.
From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026
A. At a basic level, it’s because they need the money: This is a tech revolution that requires unprecedented capital to build gargantuan data centers and pay astronomical salaries.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
The high point in indigenous Chinese astronomy occurred around 1280, with the work of Kuo Shou-ching, who used an observational baseline of 1,500 years and improved both astronomical instruments and mathematical techniques for computation.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
