empyrean
Americannoun
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the highest heaven, supposed by the ancients to contain the pure element of fire.
-
the visible heavens; the firmament.
adjective
noun
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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
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poetic the heavens or sky
adjective
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of or relating to the sky, the heavens, or the empyrean
-
heavenly or sublime
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archaic composed of fire
Etymology
Origin of empyrean
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.
Vocabulary lists containing empyrean
Elements of the Universe: Pyr, Pyro ("Fire")
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Ella Minnow Pea
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ign and pyr
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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.
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
That book’s eventual publication supposedly crowns Perkins’s ascension into the empyrean: “She is Walt and Emily and Herman and Tom and Wallace and Hilda and Gertrude all rolled into one.”
From Washington Post ● Jun. 3, 2015
For the gatekeepers of heaven were to review him in state, that they might make their decision: Would this man be a credit to the empyrean?
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
