sky
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
skyIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈskaɪ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth
The atmosphere above a given point, especially as visible from the surface of the Earth as the place where the sun, moon, stars, and clouds are seen.
With a descriptive word: the part of the sky which can be seen from a specific place or at a specific time; its climate, condition, etc.
A vibrant light blue colour, like that of the sky on a fine day.
verb
Throw or toss with a light motion
transitiveinformal
To drink (a beverage) from a container without one's lips touching the container.
intransitive
To move quickly, as if by flying; to fly; also, to escape, to flee (especially by airplane).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth
Used this way, sky is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This sense is used where position and measurement matter — travel, weather and flight — so it reads as factual rather than emotive.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Geography/travel
- Weather/aviation
- Technical/specialist writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use sky
- “That year, a meteor fell from the sky.”noun
- “I lay back under a warm Texas sky.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.