barometer

American  

[buh-rom-i-ter] / bəˈrɒm ɪ tər /

noun

• barometers
  plural

1. Meteorology. any instrument that measures atmospheric pressure.

2. anything that indicates changes.

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barometer British  

/ bəˈrɒmɪtə /

noun

1. an instrument for measuring atmospheric pressure, usually to determine altitude or weather changes

2. anything that shows change or impending change

   the barometer of social change

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barometer Scientific  

/ bə-rŏm′ĭ-tər /

1. An instrument for measuring atmospheric pressure. Barometers are used in determining height above sea level and in forecasting the weather. The two primary types of barometers are the aneroid and the mercury barometer.

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barometer Cultural  

1. An instrument that measures atmospheric pressure.

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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

• barometry
  noun
• barometric
  adjective
• barometrical
  adjective
• barometrically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• barometers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of barometer

First recorded in 1655–65; baro- + -meter

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

barometer barometers

Chairman of the Isle of Man Foodbank David Gawne said the third sector was also seeing the impact, and said the charity had become "something of a barometer" for the island's economic pressures.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

But this time around, it has become a new barometer of actual AI demand in the data-center, electrical-grid and power-infrastructure sectors.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

The company’s stock price has often served as a barometer for the broader AI trade, swinging wildly along with investors’ mood.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Strength itself is also a remarkably good barometer of health.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026

Boyle constructed his air pump because the glass globe out of which the air was evacuated provided a better site for experiments than the space at the top of a barometer.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Both are considered barometers for the economy’s health.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

Breach described High Streets as one of the most "visible barometers" of how a local economy is faring, saying where High Streets are performing badly voters expect intervention which requires more than cosmetic change.

From BBC ● May 2, 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

More recent employment barometers, meanwhile, suggest companies are not hiring many people.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 18, 2025

Extra clothes, books, scientific instruments and specimens, chess sets, flags, lanterns, tools, sewing kits, lucky talismans, razors, barometers, combs, scissors, playing cards, dishes, silverware, photographs—each man added to the heap.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong