heavenly
Americanadjective
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of or in the heavens.
the heavenly bodies.
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of, belonging to, or coming from the heaven of God, the angels, etc.
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resembling or befitting heaven; blissful; beautiful.
His home in Tahiti was a heavenly spot.
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divine or celestial.
heavenly peace.
adjective
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informal alluring, wonderful, or sublime
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of or occurring in space
a heavenly body
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divine; holy
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of heavenly
before 1000; Middle English hevenly, Old English heofonlīc. See heaven, -ly
Explanation
If something is heavenly, it either has something to do with God — it's sacred or divine — or it's so wonderful that it seems like it is, like the heavenly double-fudge brownies that your dad makes. If you hear a priest in a church refer to "the heavenly Father," that basically translates to "God in heaven." When you observe heavenly objects through your telescope, you're looking at things that are in the sky, rather than something sacred or religious. And the most common, everyday way to use this adjective is to mean so beautiful or amazing that it seems like it came from heaven: "This weather is heavenly."
Vocabulary lists containing heavenly
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.
You’ve seen a couple hundred of them by the time you hit second or third grade, so you become familiar with the muted ethereal glow, the heavenly gaze and the look of piety.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026
"So yeah, this was really heavenly to work on."
From BBC • Feb. 5, 2026
It is hard, if not impossible, to distinguish confusion from heavenly harmony.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026
But heavenly providence does not come easily for Ann.
From Salon • Dec. 27, 2025
Clavius was wrong—there are no eccentrics and epicycles—but he was right to claim that he could predict the future movements of the heavenly bodies with a high degree of reliability.
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.
