extraterrestrial
adjective
ex·tra·ter·res·tri·al
| \ ˌek-strə-tə-ˈre-strē-əl
, -ˈres-chəl, -ˈresh-chəl\
, -ˈres-chəl, -ˈresh-chəl\
Definition of extraterrestrial
(Entry 1 of 2)
: originating, existing, or occurring outside the earth or its atmosphere
extraterrestrial life
extraterrestrial
nounDefinition of extraterrestrial (Entry 2 of 2)
: a being from another world : an extraterrestrial being
Examples of extraterrestrial in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
According to a study published last month in The Astronomical Journal, extraterrestrial life might taking its time to fully explore the galaxy, even using the movement of star systems to make this type of journey easier. — Fox News, "Alien civilizations may have explored the Milky Way and visited Earth already, new study claims," 10 Sep. 2019 Years earlier the Pitt character’s father, played by Tommy Lee Jones, headed a deep-space exploratory search for extraterrestrial life that went flooey and apparently killed the crew and apparently left Pitt’s character fatherless. — Michael Phillips, chicagotribune.com, "‘Ad Astra’ at Venice Film Festival: Brad Pitt lost in space, and in a funk," 29 Aug. 2019 In the search for extraterrestrial life, scientists are turning to our own ocean for inspiration. — Eva Botkin-kowacki, The Christian Science Monitor, "NASA eyes the ocean: How the deep sea could unlock outer space," 23 Aug. 2019 Science + Tech = MACH The search for extraterrestrial life is one of humankind's biggest and most elusive quests. — NBC News, "Migrant detention policy raises health fears: Read the Morning Rundown," 22 Aug. 2019 There are many challenges to the possibility of using the TreePol for extraterrestrial life. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Alien Plant Hunter Taking First Steps on Earth. Next Stop: Jupiter," 22 Aug. 2019 Science Astronomer Jill Tarter, former director of the Center for SETI Research, uses the power of Twitter to answer common questions about extraterrestrial life. — Philip Ball, WIRED, "Quantum Darwinism Could Explain What Makes Reality Real," 28 July 2019 Baoshu, translation by Ken Liu A novel envisioning a man’s life in the aftermath of the conflicts between humanity and extraterrestrial life. — Amanda Shendruk, Quartzy, "Here’s what every Chinese book recently translated for the US is about," 27 July 2019 There are, of course, other concerns beyond the quest to discover extraterrestrial life. — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, "Burying CAESAR: How NASA Picks Winners—and Losers—in Space Exploration," 25 July 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Conspiracy theorists imagine that the Easter Island heads were built by aliens using lasers, that there's a skyscraper built by extraterrestrials at the bottom of the Pacific, and the froglike statues of Marquesa Island depict an ancient alien race. — Elinor Aspegren, USA TODAY, "A conspiracy, a crash and a capture: Five theories about Amelia Earhart's disappearance," 19 July 2019 For decades, it has been thought to serve as a holding site for UFOs, aliens and government secrets about extraterrestrials. — Fox News, "What's Area 51, and why is it so popular right now? 4 things to know about the top-secret site," 16 July 2019 This is a big deal because, as Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk have warned, communicating with extraterrestrials could pose a catastrophic risk to humanity. — Sigal Samuel, Vox, "If aliens call, what should we do? Scientists want your opinion.," 6 July 2019 One account posited that the first Magyars were extraterrestrials from a planet orbiting Sirius B. To most, however, the fact that the Magyars initially appeared in the historical record on horseback suggested a more terrestrial ancestry. — Jacob Mikanowski, Harper's magazine, "The Call of the Drums," 21 July 2019 The Facebook page, which has drawn the very real attention of the Air Force, jokingly intends on raiding the super secretive military facility in an effort to liberate any potential extraterrestrials being held at Area 51. — Matt Mcnulty, PEOPLE.com, "Bud Light Offers Free Beer to 'Any Alien That Makes It Out' of Area 51," 19 July 2019 During an interview with Fox News' Tucker Carlson, Trump, who has all our information about extraterrestrials and UFOs at his disposal, said he isn't convinced UFOs exist. — Fox News, "Trump's opinion on UFOs: Nope -- but you never know," 6 July 2019 Early theories included evaporating black holes, cosmic cataclysms, dense dead stars—and yes, intelligent extraterrestrials. — Nadia Drake, National Geographic, "Bizarre radio burst traced back to its origin in deep space," 27 June 2019 That smell from all those covert extraterrestrials — ewwwwwww. — Mark Feeney, BostonGlobe.com, "The men, and some women, are back in black," 12 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'extraterrestrial.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for extraterrestrial
extraterrestrial
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of extraterrestrial
: coming from or existing outside the planet Earth
See the full definition for extraterrestrial in the English Language Learners Dictionary