skyscraper
Americannoun
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skyscrapers
plural
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a relatively tall building of many stories, especially one for office or commercial use.
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Architecture. a building of exceptional height completely supported by a framework, as of girders, from which the walls are suspended, as opposed to a building supported by load-bearing walls.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of skyscraper
Explanation
A skyscraper is a very tall building, like New York City's Empire State Building, which held the title of "World's Tallest Building" for many years. You're most likely to see a skyscraper in a large city like New York or Hong Kong. You can spot the tourists in these cities because they are often gazing up at the tops of the skyscrapers. The designation of a building as a skyscraper was originally an Americanism, but the earliest recorded use of skyscraper was for a triangular sail set topmost on a square-rigged ship, and at other times in the past the word was used to designate a very tall man and a high-flying bird, among other things.
Vocabulary lists containing skyscraper
September Words
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Towers Falling
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for October 30–November 5, 2021
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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:
In 2012, it cut the ribbon on a $750 million, 50-story skyscraper to house employees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Could an L.A. skyscraper rise higher than those in New York City or Chicago?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Beneath the shadows of indigo-streaked clouds, a young woman strolls through a fog-covered city, stopping at the base of a skyscraper.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
Steel beams holding up the skyscraper are exposed in various corners of residential units - an homage to what made the original building so innovative.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
This is not such an easy task when the snowdrifts are piled high as a Chicago skyscraper!
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
The goal is to enable it to compete with the more modern skyscrapers in the city.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
Individual projects still would require zoning reviews, so no need to worry about skyscrapers coming to Silver Lake.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
He says he felt like an ant walking into the huge facility on his first day in prison; the guard towers reminded him of skyscrapers.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Gilbert plans to take down two buildings in Detroit’s Renaissance Center, the group of seven interconnected skyscrapers that has defined the skyline since the 1970s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
I stared out the window in silent apprehension as the corporate headquarters of Innovative Online Industries Inc. came into view: two rectangular skyscrapers flanking a circular one, forming the IOI corporate logo.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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.
