What does "sky" mean?
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.
Sky
/skaɪ/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: 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.
- Grammar: sky is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: acme, aerial heights, air, apex.
- Useful contrasts: norwegian grunn, catch, decline.
- Usage evidence: Do you ever dream about flying through the sky?
How to use "sky"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "sky" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "sky" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "sky" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "sky" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "sky" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "acme" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "sky", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 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.
"That year, a meteor fell from the sky."
- 2 A disagreeable person; an enemy. UK, obsolete, slang
- 3 the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth wordnet
- 4 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.
"I lay back under a warm Texas sky."
- 5 Usually preceded by the: the abode of God or the gods, angels, the souls of deceased people, etc.; heaven; also, powers emanating from heaven. archaic, literary, poetic
"This mortal has incurred the wrath of the skies."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 Ellipsis of sky blue. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
"But yet methinks, thoſe knots of Sky, do not / So well with the dead colour of her Face."
- 7 The set of all lightlike lines (or directions) passing through a given point in space-time.
- 8 In an art gallery: the upper rows of pictures that cannot easily be seen; also, the place where such pictures are hung. informal, obsolete, rare
- 9 A cloud. obsolete
Verb
- 1 To drink (a beverage) from a container without one's lips touching the container. informal, transitive
- 2 throw or toss with a light motion wordnet
- 3 To hang (a picture on exhibition) near the top of a wall, where it cannot easily be seen; (by extension) to put (something) in an undesirable place. dated, informal, transitive
"The artists—I mean the younger brood, and not the Brother Academicians who "skied" his pictures—were the first and the most enthusiastic in his [George Fuller's] praise."
- 4 To toss (something) upwards; specifically, to flip (a coin). dated, slang, transitive
"In ‘skying’ a coin for the purpose of deciding a point at issue between two parties, two methods are in vogue: there is either the ‘slow torture’ of spinning the coin thrice, the decision to go against the tosser-up, if the other party, twice out of the three times, guesses right on which side the coin shall fall; or, the ‘sudden death’ method in which one toss is decisive; […]"
- 5 To clear (a high jump bar, hurdle, etc.) by a large margin. transitive
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 To hit, kick, or throw (a ball) extremely high. transitive
"Hernandez [i.e., Félix Hernández] walked the bases loaded, then fell behind 3–1 in the count to Bobby Abreu, who then skied the next pitch to left for a sacrifice fly."
- 7 To miss a goal by kicking the ball over the crossbar. transitive
"He laid on the two best chances, both wasted by Pratt, who skied one and stubbed his toe on the other."
- 8 To raise (the price of an item on auction, or the level of the bids generally) by bidding high. obsolete, transitive
"All of a sudden he appeared as a third competitor, skied the Flying Scud with four fat bids of a thousand dollars each, and then as suddenly fled the field, remaining thenceforth (as before) a silent, interested spectator."
- 9 To move quickly, as if by flying; to fly; also, to escape, to flee (especially by airplane). intransitive
- 10 To hit, kick, or throw a ball extremely high. intransitive
- 11 To raise an oar too high above the water. intransitive
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
- 2 Obsolete form of Skye (“Scottish island”). alt-of, obsolete
"A strange instance of something of this nature, even when on horseback, happened when he was in the isle of Sky."
- 3 A unisex given name from English.
"The bad thing was she took my son Skiff with her. It's a dumb name I know, but at the time he was born all the kids were being called things like Sky and Saffron and Powie, and I was really sold on sailing."
Example
"Do you ever dream about flying through the sky?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "sky"?
Common synonyms include: acme, aerial heights, air, apex, apogee, astral.
How do you use "sky" in a sentence?
Do you ever dream about flying through the sky?
How do you pronounce "sky"?
Pronounced /skaɪ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
The noun is derived from Middle English sky (“sky; cloud; mist”), also spelled ski, skie, [and other forms], from Old Norse ský (“cloud”), from Proto-Germanic *skiwją (“cloud; sky”), from *skiwô (“cloud; cloud cover, haze; sky”) (whence Old English sċēo (“cloud”) and Middle English skew (“air; sky; (rare) cloud”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- (“to cover; to conceal, hide”). Partly displaced Old English heofon, which survives in the reflex heaven, still sometimes used in the sense of sky, but usually in high or poetic register. The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates The English word is cognate with Old English scēo (“cloud”), Old Saxon scio, skio, skeo (“light cloud cover”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian Bokmål sky (“cloud”), Old Irish ceo (“mist, fog”), Irish ceo (“mist, fog”). It is also related to Old English scūa (“shadow, darkness”), Latin obscūrus (“dark, shadowy”), Sanskrit स्कुनाति (skunāti, “he covers”). See also hide, hose, house, hut, shoe.
Etymology 2
From Volsci (“a tribe who opposed the Romans”).
Etymology 3
From sky. As a surname, a translation of German Himmel and an anglicization of Ashkenazic surnames ending in -sky.