Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

shooting star

American  

noun

  • shooting stars
    plural
  1. meteor.

  2. Also called prairie pointer, American cowslip. any of several North American plants of the genus Dodecatheon, especially D. meadia, having pink or white flowers with reflexed petals and stamens forming a pointed beak.


shooting star British  

noun

  1. an informal name for meteor

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of shooting star

First recorded in 1585–95

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:

"You would have to get very, very lucky to see a shooting star during the total eclipse," Royal Astronomical Society research fellow Dr Becky Smethurst said.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

But even there, the chances are extremely slim, "you would have to get very, very lucky to see a shooting star during the total eclipse," Dr Smethurst said.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

Round number theory came into play at the $100 figure with a bearish shooting star on Sept. 22, followed by a bearish dark cloud cover and two bearish engulfing candles in October.

From Barron's ● May 7, 2026

The daily chart shows the Australian dollar-U.S. dollar pair posted shooting star patterns last Thursday and Friday and closed below the 2023 high, the senior market analyst notes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026

“A shooting star that fell a million years ago.”

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Look it up. Learn it forever.

Remember new words for good with VocabTrainer. Expand your vocabulary effortlessly with personalized learning tools that adapt to your goals.

Take me to Vocabulary.com