interstellar
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of interstellar
Explanation
If something happens or is located in between stars, it's interstellar. If you dream of interstellar travel, you're imagining flying through space — and maybe meeting a few extraterrestrials along the way. The area inside a galaxy is often referred to by astronomers as interstellar space. In fact, the adjective interstellar is frequently used in a general way as a synonym for "outer space" or "between solar systems." So if an astronaut is planning an interstellar trip, she may be traveling in space, but she's not literally making a journey from one star to another. The roots of interstellar are inter-, "between," and the Latin stella, or "star."
Vocabulary lists containing interstellar
Oh, My Stars! The Language of Outer Space
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Oh, My Stars! A Solstice Sampler
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Space Science (Astronomy) - Introductory
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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.
But new research suggests that worlds drifting through the darkness of interstellar space could still remain habitable, even without the warmth of a nearby star.
From Science Daily • May 29, 2026
So far, scientists have identified only three known interstellar objects entering our solar system, but researchers expect that number to rise as more advanced observatories begin searching the skies.
From Science Daily • May 8, 2026
He described the relative speeds of pandemic-era development as like "interstellar travelling -- inside, China had leapt forwards while outside, global carmakers lagged".
From Barron's • Apr. 27, 2026
In all probability, Voyager 1 and its siblings—launched in 1977 to surveil our solar system’s outer planets and moons and then head into interstellar space—will vastly outlive humans, the sun and the planet Earth.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
After Uranus it will plunge on past Neptune, leaving the solar system, becoming an interstellar spacecraft, fated to roam forever the great ocean between the stars.
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.
