starry
Americanadjective
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filled, covered with, or illuminated by stars
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of, like, or relating to a star or stars
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of starry
Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; see origin at star, -y 1
Explanation
Starry things are either full of stars, like the starry night sky, or they look like stars, like the starry white flowers in your garden. An astronaut may have the chance to look out at the starry universe or distant, starry galaxies—and you can do this too, if you have a powerful telescope. The adjective starry almost always describes the night sky, unless a poet describes starry eyes or starry fields of flowers. If someone calls you starry-eyed, they mean that you're unrealistically optimistic.
Vocabulary lists containing starry
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.
See Examples For:
David is never lucid again, and as death comes, under a starry night, Sarah and Robert open the curtains and wait for morning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
There’s still plenty to look forward to, including another go at the starry mixed doubles tournament, this one featuring the pairing of Djokovic and women’s No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
D’Angelo’s children introduced the medley, which was set against a backdrop of floor to ceiling windows looking out on a starry sky.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
These starry revues work best when the emphasis is placed on interpretation rather than raw execution.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
Joe and Marly went from one hump to the other, opened some to watch ants, and looked at the queer moss and starry little plants on others.
From "Miracles on Maple Hill" by Virginia Sorensen
The unwritten rules: the bigger, the louder, the splashier, the starrier, the better.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025
Mel Brooks, Angela Bassett and film editor Carol Littleton will collect honorary Oscar statuettes at a private, untelevised dinner Tuesday night in Los Angeles that has often been even starrier than the Oscars themselves.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 9, 2024
It’s a tricky line to walk, including starrier U.S. titles without seeming to be pandering.
From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2023
How did Cienfuegos accomplish what some starrier productions have failed to do?
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2023
Our wisdom dies Beneath your deeper, starrier skies!
From Collected Poems Volume Two by Alfred Noyes
Stripped of their starriest player and many trusted associates, they’ve morphed into a tighter outfit that plays unselfish team basketball and relies on every player to shoot, rebound and defend.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026
Brazilian director Karim Ainouz's surreal satire "Rosebush Pruning" premiered on Saturday at the Berlin Film Festival with one of the programme's starriest casts portraying an outrageously spoiled and dysfunctional family descending into chaos.
From Barron's ● Feb. 14, 2026
It was one of the starriest categories of the night, with Gatiss holding off competition from David Tennant, Andrew Scott, James Norton and Joseph Fiennes.
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2024
Like the Oscars this year, there was something warmer and lower key than usual about this starriest of after-parties.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 13, 2023
From the dome Of starriest Night two blest Immortals come, To bear us spheral-ward to God's own mercy-seat.
From Hesperus and Other Poems and Lyrics by Charles Sangster
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