astronomical

adjective as·tro·nom·i·cal \ ˌas-trə-ˈnä-mi-kəl \

variants: or less commonly astronomic play \-mik\

Updated on: 28 Nov 2017

Definition of astronomical

1 : of or relating to astronomy

astronomical observations

2 : enormously or inconceivably large or great

astronomical numbers

an astronomical price

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astronomically

play \-mi-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

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Examples of astronomical in a Sentence

The cost of the office building was astronomical.
We got an astronomical telephone bill this month.

Recent Examples of astronomical from the Web

Amy Schumer, Keegan-Michael Key, Laura Benanti and Jeremy Shamos play two married couples united by an astronomical event and divided by almost everything else.

— alexis soloski, New York Times, "What’s New in NYC Theater," 26 Oct. 2017
The value of those cases is going to be astronomical.

— joel rosenblatt, Bloomberg.com, "Lawyers Hunt for California Fires' Ground Zero to Go After PG&E," 19 Oct. 2017
Then, due to a combination of sickness and poor astronomical alignment, Piazzi promptly lost it.

— avery thompson, Popular Mechanics, "How We Discovered, Lost, and Rediscovered the First Asteroid," 17 Oct. 2017
These are ripples in space, propagated at the speed of light, that are created by tumultuous astronomical events involving gargantuan bodies.

— The Economist, "Gravitational-wave astronomy starts in earnest," 16 Oct. 2017
These can be configured to match astronomical numbers of molecular combinations.

— bradley j. fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Antibody-created stem cells may have superior properties," 11 Sep. 2017
Thus began a journey that would, in time, take it within an astronomical hair’s breadth of humanity’s home planet.

— The Economist, "AstronomyThe first visitor from another solar system has just been spotted," 2 Nov. 2017
Months later, the intergalactic look took over everyone's Instagram feeds with real-life interpretations of astronomical proportions, and the trend hasn't slowed down since.

— devon abelman, Allure, "Here’s How to Do Galaxy Makeup For Halloween," 24 Oct. 2017
The costs of the scandal were already astronomical before the technical problems.

— jack ewing, New York Times, "Volkswagen Issues Profit Warning Over Cost of Diesel Repairs," 29 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'astronomical.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.