soar
Americanverb (used without object)
-
soars,
present (3rd person singular)
-
soared,
past participle, past
-
soaring
present participle
noun
-
an act or instance of soaring.
-
the height attained in soaring.
verb
-
to rise or fly upwards into the air
-
(of a bird, aircraft, etc) to glide while maintaining altitude by the use of ascending air currents
-
to rise or increase in volume, size, etc
soaring prices
noun
-
the act of soaring
-
the altitude attained by soaring
Synonym Usage
See fly 2.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
soarsimple
-
soarssimple
-
have soaredperfect
-
has soaredperfect
-
am soaringprogressive
-
are soaringprogressive
-
is soaringprogressive
-
have been soaringperfect progressive
-
has been soaringperfect progressive
Past
-
soaredsimple
-
had soaredperfect
-
was soaringprogressive
-
were soaringprogressive
-
had been soaringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of soar
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English soren, from Middle French essorer, from unattested Vulgar Latin exaurāre, equivalent to Latin ex- ex- 1 + aur(a) “air” + -āre infinitive suffix
Explanation
To soar means more than just to fly; it means to rise swiftly, to feel the wind slipping below you as you ride it higher, higher, higher. Flying is just moving through the air. Soaring, though, suggests exhilaration, even joy. Think about the anticipation you feel when you buy a lottery ticket — your hopes soar as you contemplate the possibilities. It's the same wonderful feeling you get when someone you have a crush on notices you, when you land that perfect job, when you hold your child. The word soar comes from the Latin, ex-, which means "out," and aura, meaning "breeze, air," together meaning "out of the air," which is precisely how it feels to soar.
Vocabulary lists containing soar
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act I
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Metaphors from Top AP English Exam Novels
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Higher Learning: Synonyms For "Up"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
With these three ingredients in place, the odds of a satisfying retirement soar, he says.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
Stories abound of local townspeople seeing energy bills soar when they are asked to foot the bill for the infrastructure needed to power new data centres, or finding their already stretched water supplies further diminished.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Also, OpenAI disappoints some investors and shares of Unitree Robotics soar more than 600%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
As CoreWeave Holdings shares soar on Wednesday, even one of the most vocal bears is willing to give the neocloud company some praise.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
I see Asher soar high over me, his mech’s eye a distant scarlet dot high in the sky.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
Abercrombie & Fitch stock soars after the clothing retailer’s earnings beat expectations.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
As Amazon soars, nowhere is Bezos’ astronomical wealth more tangibly displayed than in his $500 million real estate empire.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
Off the entry and through an archway, the architectural heart of the century-old home soars upward: the living room’s open-beam, 25-foot ceiling with its original deep teal stain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Also, your heart rate spikes, your blood pressure soars, the blood vessels in your extremities constrict to keep warm blood near your core and you begin to gasp involuntarily.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
The risk of such an exodus increases as China’s economy soars, North Korea’s sinks, and word spreads that life is better in China.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
That perhaps explains why Replimune’s stock soared in August after FDA approval but has since given back some of the gains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
County’s coast soared into the 90s on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week, while inland valleys recorded highs hitting the triple digits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
Local interest has soared since 2022, though, when the NFL made the global growth of American football a strategic priority.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
CoinMarketCap data, which aggregates prices from a handful of crypto exchanges, showed $LAPTOP’s price soared out of the gate.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
In two short decades, between 1980 and 2000, the number of people incarcerated in our nation’s prisons and jails soared from roughly 300,000 to more than 2 million.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
So with the clock winding down and the game on the line, Chambliss wasn’t thinking about a national championship, or a Heisman trophy, or his suddenly soaring NFL draft stock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
Chancellor John Healey is under pressure to raise taxes or cut spending at his Budget next month, amid soaring government borrowing costs.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Worried about soaring youth unemployment, Beijing is embracing this new entrepreneurial boom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
The album is loaded with Anthrax trademarks — serrated, crunchy riffs, soaring lead vocals, bludgeoning beats, and scorching guitar — but there are also galactic noise effects, angular song structures and atypical chord configurations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
The library had soaring ceilings and tall windows; it looked like a building made for the creature.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
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.
