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.
And without AI, don’t expect interstellar migration to save us.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The dark nebula is made from interstellar dust dense enough to block starlight and is 650 light years away.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Green lanterns are interstellar peacekeepers who wear rings that give them extraordinary powers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
As astronomers find and examine more interstellar objects, each one offers another opportunity to compare our solar system with planetary systems elsewhere in the galaxy.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026
The utilization of planetary resources so that new interstellar spacecraft could be constructed locally would be a slow process.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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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.
