English Reference

Word

meteoric

Phoneticsme·te·oric

US/ˌmitiˈɔɹɪk/

UK/mˌiːtɪˈɒɹɪk/

Definition

adj. describing something that happens very quickly and is very successful. It is often used to talk about a person's career or a company's growth.

adj. characterised by rapid and dramatic progress or success. Often used to describe the trajectory of a career or the rise of a company.

Examples

“The young athlete had a meteoric rise to fame.”

“After winning the national championship, the team's meteoric success led to a series of high-profile international tours.”

“The meteoric growth of the tech startup was fueled by a combination of innovative software and aggressive marketing, though such rapid expansion eventually led to internal management challenges.”

Examples

simple

“The young athlete had a meteoric rise to fame.”

contextual

“After winning the national championship, the team's meteoric success led to a series of high-profile international tours.”

complex

“The meteoric growth of the tech startup was fueled by a combination of innovative software and aggressive marketing, though such rapid expansion eventually led to internal management challenges.”

Real-World Examples

“Photograph: Staffan Claesson/TT/Shutterstock For people in Uppsala, the city where Sirius are based, the club’s meteoric rise has been a source of huge excitement.”
The Guardian · 14 Aug 2026
“Then questions about his meteoric rise began to snowball.”
The Guardian · 7 Aug 2026

Etymology

From meteor + -ic.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Collocations

meteoric rise

Word family

Domain

Geology

This entry

Level
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Occasional
Updated

Scan code

englishreference.com/q/meteoric

English Reference