barometer
Americannoun
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barometers
plural
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Meteorology. any instrument that measures atmospheric pressure.
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anything that indicates changes.
noun
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an instrument for measuring atmospheric pressure, usually to determine altitude or weather changes
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anything that shows change or impending change
the barometer of social change
Discover More
In general, when the barometer falls in response to a drop in pressure, bad weather is approaching; when the barometer rises because of an increase in pressure, good weather will follow.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of barometer
Explanation
A barometer is a device that measures atmospheric pressure. Barometers help meteorologists figure out what the weather is going to be like. Sure, it's technically a weather man's tool — but you can use barometer more generally to describe anything that can be used to forecast or measure something else. The stock market is a barometer for economic health. Your grades are a barometer of how you're doing in school. For the President, a national poll is a barometer of political success. These kinds of barometers tell which way the wind is blowing — just not literally.
Vocabulary lists containing barometer
Physical Geography - Introductory
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Weather and Climate - Introductory
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Physical Geography - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
As Disney obsessives, my friends and I know theme parks, but had no barometer for what to expect from … a celebrity-themed one.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
For Celtic, with all the advantages they hold over most others in Scotland, the true barometer is Europe.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Strength itself is also a remarkably good barometer of health.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
The Fed views the PCE index — the core rate in particular — as the most accurate barometer of U.S. inflation trends.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026
She asked for a barometer and an anemometer and a rain gauge for Christmas, and hung them outside her bedroom window.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
Both are considered barometers for the economy’s health.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
A pair of major price barometers this week are expected to confirm what’s obvious to Americans every time they fill up their cars.
From MarketWatch ● May 11, 2026
And besides that, with their hard-fought Final Four victories Friday over Texas and Connecticut, respectively, barometers for other programs that dream of ascending to such elite heights.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2026
Copper and oil prices are considered barometers of global economic health.
From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2025
Boyle was right, however, to claim that his results were very similar to those previously obtained in experiments with barometers.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
