supernova
supernova Lexical Profile
supernova Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Someone or something that achieves a sudden, dazzling, and extraordinary rise to fame, prominence, or brilliance.
"The young pianist became a supernova in the classical music world after her debut performance in Vienna."
A cataclysmic explosion of a massive star in the final stage of its life cycle, which briefly increases in luminosity by millions of times and outshines an entire galaxy before fading away.
"Astronomers observed a distant supernova that scattered heavy elements across the surrounding nebula."
• Rhymes for supernova
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in 1931 by astronomers Walter Baade and Fritz Zwicky from the prefix super- ('beyond' or 'exceeding') and nova (from Latin stella nova, meaning 'new star'), to distinguish these cataclysmic stellar explosions from ordinary, less luminous novae.