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 doc uses archive material to tell the story of the star’s meteoric rise. —Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 27 Nov. 2025

His win caps a meteoric rise within the sport, dictated by ritual and tradition, in the three years since the 21-year-old arrived in Japan as war ravaged his home country. —Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 24 Nov. 2025

Cory had a meteoric rise at UBA — as president of news, then the network, and then CEO (post-merger) of UBN — before being fired in season 3. —Gerrad Hall, Entertainment Weekly, 23 Nov. 2025

Mamdani has since had a meteoric rise, from polling in single digits, to becoming the city’s next mayor in less than two months. —Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 21 Nov. 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