as in celestial
of, relating to, or suggesting heaven
movie scenes set in heaven often suggest that harps are the favored instruments for empyrean music
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in sky
a dwelling place of perfect happiness for the soul after death
ascended into the empyrean after a life filled with good deeds
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in utopia
an often imaginary place or state of utter perfection and happiness
most ticket buyers have no trouble envisioning the empyrean that winning the lottery would inevitably bring about
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of empyrean
Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 14 Jan. 2025
Larraín’s third subject, Maria Callas, despite being born to an ignoble family and having to face wartime poverty during the 1940s, was no stranger to the trappings of an empyrean existence, but in constantly having to live up to it, like Diana, her life met an untimely end.
—Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 15 Dec. 2024
The event, held high up in skyscraping event venue Glasshouse Chelsea, offered sweeping vista views of the Manhattan and New Jersey skylines meant to evoke the game’s new empyrean setting.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 26 Apr. 2023
At their best, Harjo’s poems inform each other, linking her different modes, facilitating her tendency to zoom from a personal experience to a more empyrean one.
—Maya Phillips, The New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2019
Louis leaves Prior, drawing the first line in a pattern of abandonment that informs the entire play, and finally stretches all the way into the empyrean kingdom of an absent God.
—Ben Brantley, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2018
Our badges looked different, we were afforded fewer privileges, and we were certainly kept in the dark about The Algorithm (pause for heavenly-choir noise effect) and other such empyrean secrets.
—Lucas Peterson, GQ, 22 May 2017
Mitch Therieau, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2026
Betts is part of the Sox Sensation club with Fred Lynn and Nomar Garciaparra, all wildly popular and productive players who turned out to be supernovas streaking across the Boston baseball empyrean instead of franchise polestars.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 18 July 2022
Magical empyrean is mundane Earth.
—Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2022
They are concealed in the empyrean.
—Frank Wilczek, WSJ, 14 Oct. 2021
O’Keeffe places the viewer aloft, level with the bone, high up in the empyrean.
—Roxana Robinson, The New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2021
That could quickly propel a few black schools into the athletic empyrean, and change the place of HBCUs in American culture.
—Jemele Hill, The Atlantic, 5 Sep. 2019
Adjective
In October, with three more of her novels now available in English and at least 20 other languages, the Swedish Academy awarded Han the Nobel Prize, elevating her to the empyrean realm reserved for writers of what is sometimes called world literature.
—Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 14 Jan. 2025
Larraín’s third subject, Maria Callas, despite being born to an ignoble family and having to face wartime poverty during the 1940s, was no stranger to the trappings of an empyrean existence, but in constantly having to live up to it, like Diana, her life met an untimely end.
—Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 15 Dec. 2024
The event, held high up in skyscraping event venue Glasshouse Chelsea, offered sweeping vista views of the Manhattan and New Jersey skylines meant to evoke the game’s new empyrean setting.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 26 Apr. 2023
At their best, Harjo’s poems inform each other, linking her different modes, facilitating her tendency to zoom from a personal experience to a more empyrean one.
—Maya Phillips, The New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2019
Louis leaves Prior, drawing the first line in a pattern of abandonment that informs the entire play, and finally stretches all the way into the empyrean kingdom of an absent God.
—Ben Brantley, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2018
Our badges looked different, we were afforded fewer privileges, and we were certainly kept in the dark about The Algorithm (pause for heavenly-choir noise effect) and other such empyrean secrets.
—Lucas Peterson, GQ, 22 May 2017
Noun
Photograph courtesy Netflix At the very top level of the pop-music empyrean, where the K-pop group BTS surely resides, an album release is never just an album release.
—Mitch Therieau, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2026
Betts is part of the Sox Sensation club with Fred Lynn and Nomar Garciaparra, all wildly popular and productive players who turned out to be supernovas streaking across the Boston baseball empyrean instead of franchise polestars.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 18 July 2022
Magical empyrean is mundane Earth.
—Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2022
They are concealed in the empyrean.
—Frank Wilczek, WSJ, 14 Oct. 2021
O’Keeffe places the viewer aloft, level with the bone, high up in the empyrean.
—Roxana Robinson, The New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2021
That could quickly propel a few black schools into the athletic empyrean, and change the place of HBCUs in American culture.
—Jemele Hill, The Atlantic, 5 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for empyrean
Adjective
-
The Arsenal manager invoked a bed of roses and the accompaniment of celestial music and formed an expression to suggest anyone expecting that was evidently disconnected from the reality of a Premier League title race.—
Amy Lawrence,
New York Times,
26 Apr. 2026
-
Winning three Oscar nominations, Cruise understandably took pride in his work in Born on the Fourth of July or even Lions for Lambs, but his career didn’t become became celestial until Top Gun.—
Peter Bart,
Deadline,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Residents fled as ash fell and smoke darkened the sky, many leaving with little notice as flames approached homes and neighborhoods.—
Corey Schmidt,
Sacbee.com,
30 Apr. 2026
-
With a heaping helping of Western style (and an even bigger patio) Far Out creates an inviting, casual-cool environment that encourages another round of stories (and cocktails) under the Texas sky.—
Nathanael Gassett,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Lucky is forced to watch as the utopia he was promised crumbles under the weight of corruption.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
30 Apr. 2026
-
There’s no utopia without structural change.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Hathaway’s White Queen floats with sweet highs and dark lows, her heavenly air masking a morbid psychosis.—
Chris Feil,
Vulture,
1 May 2026
-
This grand pavilion was built to resemble the Palace of the Moon in Jade City in the heavenly realm.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 May 2026
Noun
-
These days, his life in Thailand resembles domestic bliss.—
Harry Thorfinn-George,
Pitchfork,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Most of the love stories that do make it to the big screen still generally follow broad, conventional strokes, capturing the bliss of coupling up or the blues of falling apart.—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
But back in the 1950s, most Americans thought of Cuba as little more than a hedonistic paradise.—
Mo Rocca,
CBS News,
26 Apr. 2026
-
And now, with a myriad of buzzy new restaurants helmed by some of France’s top chefs and curious creatives from around the world eager to experiment with the territory’s rich ingredients, Biarritz is becoming an epicure’s paradise in its own right.—
Monica Mendal,
Vogue,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Gaga and Doechii, a match made in fashion heaven, and two style students who clearly did their homework for this assignment.—
Christian Allaire,
Vogue,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Bourbon and pecan pie are a match made in heaven, but this pie takes that combination to a whole new level.—
Cameron Beall,
Southern Living,
25 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Empyrean.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/empyrean. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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