astronomical
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or connected with astronomy.
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extremely large; exceedingly great; enormous.
It takes an astronomical amount of money to build a car factory.
adjective
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enormously large; immense
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of or relating to astronomy
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of astronomical
First recorded in 1550–60; from Latin astronomic(us) (from Greek astronomikós ) + -al 1; see astronomy, -ic
Explanation
If you lie down on a big field or on a rooftop and look up, the sky is so wide and high, it is astronomical in size — bigger than huge. Everything in that sky, including the stars and planets, is also astronomical because it is part of a science called astronomy. Astra and aster are the Latin and Greek words for star, and the first four letters of astronomical, a-s-t-r, are a scramble of the word star. Astronomy includes the study of stars, but planets and other objects and happenings in space are also part of astronomical studies. Considering how large everything in space is, it makes sense that very, very large or uncountable things sometimes get the description astronomical.
Vocabulary lists containing astronomical
Eclipse Vocabulary
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From Ascension to Zenith: Astronomy and Stargazing Terms
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Elements of the Universe: Aster, Astro ("Star")
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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.
Tyson and other scientists warn that these orbiting machines will make it increasingly difficult to do astronomical research from Earth—and, eventually, will render the night sky unrecognizable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
School enrollment is falling as families with children struggle to afford L.A.’s astronomical housing prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026
Of course, in an industry in which astronomical figures are the norm, the prospect of paying a maximum of £3m for Howe may not be too problematic.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
The unusual discovery highlights a fundamental problem with applying familiar astronomical labels to objects found in distant star systems.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2026
This is not a situation restricted to astronomical objects, but only astronomical objects are so far away that the finite speed of light becomes important.
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.
