soar

American  

[sawr, sohr] / sɔr, soʊr /

verb (used without object)

soars, present (3rd person singular) soared, past participle, past soaring present participle

1. to fly upward, as a bird.

2. to fly at a great height, without visible movements of the pinions, as a bird.

3. to glide along at a height, as an airplane.

4. to rise or ascend to a height, as a mountain.

   Synonyms:

   mount, tower

5. to rise or aspire to a higher or more exalted level.

   His hopes soared.

---

noun

1. an act or instance of soaring.

2. the height attained in soaring.

soar British  

/ sɔː /

verb

1. to rise or fly upwards into the air

2. (of a bird, aircraft, etc) to glide while maintaining altitude by the use of ascending air currents

3. to rise or increase in volume, size, etc

   soaring prices

---

noun

1. the act of soaring

2. the altitude attained by soaring

Synonym Usage

See fly ².

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• soarer
  noun
• soaring
  noun
• soaringly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• soaring
  present
• soared
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• soar
  simple
• soars
  simple
• have soared
  perfect
• has soared
  perfect
• am soaring
  progressive
• are soaring
  progressive
• is soaring
  progressive
• have been soaring
  perfect progressive
• has been soaring
  perfect progressive

Past

• soared
  simple
• had soared
  perfect
• was soaring
  progressive
• were soaring
  progressive
• had been soaring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will soar
  simple
• will have soared
  perfect
• will be soaring
  progressive
• will have been soaring
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

soar soars soared soaring

Depreciation expenses will soar in the next few years because of all the new buildings and equipment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Five U.S. tech giants’ hidden debts soar to $1.65 trillion on opaque AI funding.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

US cities from Richmond, Virginia, to Boston, Massachusetts, are set to see temperatures soar from the upper 90s to near 100 degrees, with daily high records under threat.

From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026

Meteo-France warns of another period of intense heat as temperatures are expected to soar into the mid-to-high 30s and some locations in southern France may see temperatures in excess of 40C.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026

Then I saw it: a flash of chrome, a white helmet, a missile-like soar.

From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd

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

“But for Shannon, it doesn’t matter if Bowlero soars or crashes. Either way, he gets paid.”

From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026

The paper also reports that the number of billionaires "soars thanks to boom in AI".

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

For the same color is plain around the keystone of each arch of the Old Bridge, which soars beautifully over the river upstream from the arch.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

South Korea's SK hynix said Wednesday second-quarter net profit soared a whopping 1,242 percent year-on-year, driven by the artificial intelligence industry's explosive demand for its advanced memory chips.

From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026

Last week, the price of oil soared past $100 a barrel when the Houthis struck two Saudi tankers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

Chevron and Exxon are expected to report banner second-quarter earnings next week, coming off a three-month period in which oil and fuel prices soared in the wake of the closure of the Hormuz.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

Brent had soared seven percent Thursday and WTI more than six percent.

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

She soared off the station and plummeted down, down, down toward the ocean.

From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown

Digital payments giant PayPal was soaring high five years ago, riding the surge in online shopping after the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped people’s buying habits.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

Anger over soaring electricity bills is separating winning utility stocks from the losers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

Cracker Barrel's shares have struggled because sales are falling and customer traffic is slowing, all while restaurants grapple with soaring costs.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

The big question is whether soaring AI investment will eventually meet the same fate as the dot-com era, when the bubble burst and many companies failed.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026

Instead of the soaring ride he had anticipated, he made a slow, graceful half circle, heels over head, and thudded down on his back in the grass.

From "Abel's Island" by William Steig

Related Words

• ascend
• escalate
• lift
• mount
• rise
• rocket
• sail
• shoot
• shoot up
• skyrocket
• top