meteoric

adjective

me·​te·​or·​ic ˌmē-tē-ˈȯr-ik 

-ˈär-

1

a

: of or relating to a meteor

b

: resembling a meteor in speed or in sudden and temporary brilliance

a meteoric rise to fame

2

: of, relating to, or derived from the earth's atmosphere

meteoric water

meteorically

ˌmē-tē-ˈȯr-i-k(ə-)lē 

-ˈär-

adverb

Examples of meteoric in a Sentence

a meteoric rise to fame

Recent Examples on the Web

The meteoric rise placed Palantir among the top 10 U.S. tech firms and top 20 most valuable U.S. companies. —Samantha Subin, CNBC, 14 Aug. 2025

Companies such as Shein and Temu have had a meteoric rise in the past five years, appealing to Western customers with a huge offering at bargain-basement prices. —Olivia Pinnock, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025

The pair’s meteoric rise belied the situation behind the scenes. —Alessandra Codinha, Vogue, 12 Aug. 2025

The artist’s work, which saw a meteoric rise thanks to social media in the 2010s, previously inspired Marc Jacobs’ spring 2019 collection. —Julia Teti, Footwear News, 11 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1785, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for meteoric

• anaphoric
• metaphoric
• paregoric
• prehistoric
• pyrophoric
• boric
• chloric
• doric
• toric
• caloric
• dysphoric
• euphoric

Kids Definition

meteoric

adjective

me·​te·​or·​ic ˌmēt-ē-ˈȯr-ik 

-ˈär-

1

: of or relating to a meteor

a meteoric shower

2

: resembling a meteor in speed or in sudden and temporary brilliance

a meteoric rise to fame

meteorically

-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb