skyrocket
Americannoun
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skyrockets
plural
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a rocket firework that ascends into the air and explodes at a height, usually in a brilliant array of sparks of one or more colors.
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Also called scarlet gilia. a plant, Ipomopsis aggregata, of the phlox family, native to western North America, having finely divided leaves and clusters of red, trumpet-shaped flowers.
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an organized group cheer, usually led by a cheerleader, as at a football or basketball game, which begins with a hissing or whistling and ends with a shout.
verb (used without object)
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skyrockets,
present (3rd person singular)
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skyrocketed,
past participle, past
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skyrocketing
present participle
verb (used with object)
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skyrockets,
present (3rd person singular)
-
skyrocketed,
past participle, past
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skyrocketing
present participle
-
to cause to rise or increase rapidly and usually suddenly.
Economic changes have skyrocketed prices.
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to thrust with sudden dramatic advancement; catapult.
Talent has skyrocketed him to fame.
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
skyrocketsimple
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skyrocketssimple
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have skyrocketedperfect
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has skyrocketedperfect
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am skyrocketingprogressive
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are skyrocketingprogressive
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is skyrocketingprogressive
-
have been skyrocketingperfect progressive
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has been skyrocketingperfect progressive
Past
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skyrocketedsimple
-
had skyrocketedperfect
-
was skyrocketingprogressive
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were skyrocketingprogressive
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had been skyrocketingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of skyrocket
Explanation
When something skyrockets, it shoots up. Immediately after the Winter Olympics, interest in ice skating, bobsledding, and curling tends to skyrocket, or increase suddenly and dramatically. The verb skyrocket is good to use when something grows or shoots up as abruptly as a firework. Gas prices, food prices, debt, and winter cases of the flu are all said, from time to time, to skyrocket. A more literal meaning of skyrocket is the actual rocket that's designed to send a flare or firework high into the sky. A bottle rocket — a firework that is placed in an empty bottle before being lit and shooting into the air — is one example of a small skyrocket.
Vocabulary lists containing skyrocket
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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:
The companies are collecting on record-high margins for diesel and other fuels as global supplies shrink and prices skyrocket.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
As earnings skyrocket for chipmakers including Samsung, many workers are demanding a bigger cut of the profits.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
David Fyfe, chief economist at Argus Media, notes that cutting off American supply would likely cause international prices to skyrocket.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
It started on a platform called Popshoplive to sell Hello Kitty and other items, but sales didn’t skyrocket until it switched to TikTok Shop in 2023.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
“I didn’t expect fundamental deterioration in the underlying mortgage pools to hit critical levels for a couple years,” he said—when the teaser rates would vanish and monthly payments would skyrocket.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
They tend to operate during the coldest or hottest hours, when demand for electricity skyrockets and the power grid is stressed, said Form’s chief executive and co-founder, Mateo Jaramillo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Investors have also been debating whether memory-chip makers can escape their historic boom-bust cycles as AI demand skyrockets.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
Samsung, which makes memory chips essential for AI data centres, has also seen its value and profits soar as global demand skyrockets.
From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026
Swinney accused UK ministers of "twiddling their thumbs" while the cost of living for rural households skyrockets.
From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2026
The same is true of Fourth of July equipment, flags and bunting and skyrockets.
From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
In the fields, the cost of diesel needed to run combines as farmers start harvesting soybeans, corn and other crops this month has skyrocketed more than 67 percent since February.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
The salience of A.I. concerns has skyrocketed overnight.
From Slate ● Sep. 19, 2026
Founded in Massachusetts in the early 1900s, the popularity of Converse has skyrocketed since its Chuck Taylor sneaker was first introduced to US basketball courts in 1917.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
Shares of Generac Holdings skyrocketed late Wednesday after the maker of residential and industrial power generators signed a deal of up to $8 billion with Amazon.com for backup-power generators for data centers.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
He compares his newfound sense of color to tulip mania, when the Dutch were so obsessed with tulips that everyone wanted them and the price of bulbs skyrocketed.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
Toxic smoke from peatland as well as forest fires has shrouded towns and cities in the region for more than a month, sending respiratory complaints skyrocketing.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
The paper's cartoon has also homed in on skyrocketing fuel costs, joking that staff at the pump "don't care what diesel cost when you started driving".
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Even though higher yields translate into higher borrowing costs across the economy, investors are betting that tech companies will keep borrowing and investing at a breakneck clip to chase skyrocketing demand for AI tools.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Some condominium HOAs have run into trouble recently, as MarketWatch has reported, in part due to skyrocketing insurance costs and dwindling financial reserves.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
With the price of oil skyrocketing, Giebel found himself worth $100 million.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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.
