Standard Lemma guide

stardust

noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈstɑːdʌst/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈstɑɹˌdʌst/
  • CMU ARPABET: S T AA1 R D AH2 S T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Small fragments of dustlike material found in space; specifically, a type of cosmic dust that formed from cooling gases ejected from presolar stars, which was then incorporated into the cloud from which the Solar System condensed.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: literally, uncountable, usually

Examples

  • We are all made of stardust.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: extraterrestrial dust, space dust

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A distant cluster of stars resembling a cloud of dust, especially if the individual stars of which cannot be resolved with a telescope.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated, informal, literally, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Small fragments in the Earth's atmosphere or on its surface originating from meteorites; meteor dust.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic, literally, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Something imaginary or lacking substance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

An imaginary magic dust or powder that, when in one's eyes, supposedly causes one to view a person or thing favourably, even though this might not actually be warranted.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively, uncountable, usually

Examples

  • My sister’s eyes were full of stardust – she’d spend hours lazily planning her future life when she would make her big break in the movies.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

An imaginary magic dust or powder supposedly able to give one charisma or other positive qualities; hence, charisma or glamour, especially that possessed by a celebrity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

a dreamy romantic or sentimental quality

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: romanticism, romance

History

Etymology

From star + dust.

Across languages

Translations

33 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 宇宙塵 /宇宙尘 (yǔzhòuchén) — small fragments of dust-like material found in space
  • Dutch: sterrenstof — small fragments of dust-like material found in space
  • Finnish: aikapöly — small fragments of dust-like material found in space
  • Finnish: avaruuspöly — small fragments of dust-like material found in space
  • French: poussière cosmique — small fragments of dust-like material found in space
  • Galician: po de estrelas — small fragments of dust-like material found in space
  • German: kosmischer Staub — small fragments of dust-like material found in space
  • Hindi: खगोलीय धूल (khagolīya dhūl) — small fragments of dust-like material found in space
  • Icelandic: stjörnuryk — small fragments of dust-like material found in space
  • Japanese: 宇宙塵 (uchūjin) — small fragments of dust-like material found in space
  • Korean: 우주진 (ujujin) — small fragments of dust-like material found in space
  • Latvian: kosmiskie putekļi — small fragments of dust-like material found in space
  • Norwegian Bokmål: stjernestøv — small fragments of dust-like material found in space
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: stjernestøv — small fragments of dust-like material found in space
  • Russian: косми́ческая пыль (kosmíčeskaja pylʹ) — small fragments of dust-like material found in space
  • Russian: межзвёздная пыль (mežzvjózdnaja pylʹ) — small fragments of dust-like material found in space
  • Russian: рома́нтика (romántika) — small fragments of dust-like material found in space
  • Tagalog: mayawing alabok — small fragments of dust-like material found in space
  • Chinese Mandarin: 星塵 /星尘 (xīngchén) — distant cluster of stars resembling a cloud of dust
  • Finnish: tähtisumu — distant cluster of stars resembling a cloud of dust
  • French: amas stellaire — distant cluster of stars resembling a cloud of dust
  • French: poussière d'étoiles — distant cluster of stars resembling a cloud of dust
  • German: Sternenstaub — distant cluster of stars resembling a cloud of dust
  • Japanese: 星屑 (hoshikuzu) — distant cluster of stars resembling a cloud of dust
  • Japanese: スターダスト (sutādasuto) — distant cluster of stars resembling a cloud of dust
  • Polish: gwiezdny pył — distant cluster of stars resembling a cloud of dust
  • Russian: звёздная пыль (zvjózdnaja pylʹ) — distant cluster of stars resembling a cloud of dust
  • Finnish: meteoriittipöly — small fragments in the Earth's atmosphere or on its surface originating from meteorites
  • Finnish: tähtipöly — small fragments in the Earth's atmosphere or on its surface originating from meteorites
  • Finnish: tähtipöly — something imaginary or lacking substance
  • Finnish: hölynpöly — something imaginary or lacking substance
  • Finnish: tähtipöly — imaginary magic dust or powder that, when in one’s eyes, supposedly causes one to view a person or thing favourably, even though this might not actually be warranted
  • Finnish: tähtipöly — imaginary magic dust or powder supposedly able to give one charisma or other positive qualities
Real reading context

stardust in complete knowledge articles