empyrean

American  

[em-puh-ree-uhn, -pahy-, em-pir-ee-uhn, -pahy-ree-] / ˌɛm pəˈri ən, -paɪ-, ɛmˈpɪr i ən, -ˈpaɪ ri- /

noun

1. the highest heaven, supposed by the ancients to contain the pure element of fire.

2. the visible heavens; the firmament.

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adjective

1. empyreal.

empyrean British  

/ ˌɛmpaɪˈriːən /

noun

1. archaic the highest part of the (supposedly spherical) heavens, thought in ancient times to contain the pure element of fire and by early Christians to be the abode of God and the angels

2. poetic the heavens or sky

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adjective

1. of or relating to the sky, the heavens, or the empyrean

2. heavenly or sublime

3. archaic composed of fire

Etymology

Origin of empyrean

1605–15; < Late Latin empyre ( us ) empyreal + -an

Explanation

Use the word empyrean when you're talking about the heavens or the sky. You might describe the empyrean curve of the night sky, scattered with stars, particularly if you wanted to sound poetic. The adjective empyrean, pronounced "em-PEER-ee-an," can describe a religious idea of heaven. It can also describe the sky itself, or something that is awe-inspiring, like the empyrean beauty of the Himalayas. The phrase the empyrean means "the heavens" or "the sky," or in Greek cosmology, the highest, fiery sphere of heaven, empyros in Greek, and the root of empyrean.

Example Sentences

The Virgin is opening her arms, about to begin her rise through this nebulous, spiraling vortex toward heaven’s golden, empyrean light.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026

This is the kind of thriller that invites you into a gilded empyrean that compels you and repels you in equal measure.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 6, 2025

Still, there was no prohibition, earthly or empyrean, on laymen entering the ranks, and, here and there, they did.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 28, 2018

With that moment, we’ve stepped with Mr. Gyllenhaal through the doorway of one man’s vision and into the empyrean summoned by his character, the 19th-century French painter Georges Seurat.

From New York Times • Oct. 25, 2016

They say he intends to remake the Austrian town of Linz into an empyrean city, the cultural capital of the world.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr