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galaxy

noun · verb

Simple meaning

Any of the collections of many millions or billions of stars, galactic dust, black holes.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

galuhksee

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɡæləksi

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. astronomy

    Any of the collections of many millions or billions of stars, galactic dust, black holes, etc. existing as independent and coherent systems, of which there are billions in the known universe.

  2. A splendid assemblage (especially of famous people)

  3. figuratively

    An assemblage of things or people seen as luminous or brilliant.

  4. fashiondesign

    Any print or pattern reminiscent of a galaxy, generally consisting of blending, semiopaque patches of vibrant color on a dark background.

verb

  1. transitive

    To furnish with galaxies.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Any of the collections of many millions or billions of stars, galactic dust, black holes, etc. existing as independent and coherent systems, of which there are billions in the known universe.

Used this way, galaxy is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Specialist/technical
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Specialized
Connotation
Clinical and technical
Usage feel
Technical and specialized

Where it naturally appears

  • Science
  • Academic writing
  • Technical/specialist writing

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

spiral galaxygalaxy clustersradio galaxygalaxy formationwhole galaxyentire galaxydistant galaxygalaxy evolution

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • andromeda galaxynounCompound term

    A spiral galaxy in the constellation of Andromeda that is visible to the naked eye.

  • milky way galaxynounCompound term

    The galaxy containing the solar system.

  • spiral galaxynounCompound term

    A galaxy having a spiral structure.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.