Stratospheric Meaning
/ˌstɹætəˈsfɛɹɪk/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjOf, relating to, or occurring in the stratosphere (“the region of the uppermost atmosphere”).
adjUnusually or unreasonably high; astronomical.
Sentence Examples
The plane flew at a very high and mostly stratospheric altitude.
Stratospheric means relating to the second layer of atmosphere.
High winds caused the aircraft to reach stratospheric altitudes.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The company's ____ profits amazed everyone last year because they were so huge.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The record-breaking costs of the project reached a ____ level that was far higher than we expected.
Word Origin & History
From stratosphere + -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Stratospheric fighting brings a new dimension to warfare, taking it into the realm of the fantastic—like an Orson Wells^([sic – meaning Orson Welles]) drama in which cities are bombed from the stratosphere beyond reach of anti-aircraft fire and barrage balloon and in relative safety from enemy pursuit ships."
— 1941 December, Don M. Paul, “Modern Men of Mars!”, in Will Lane, editor, Minicam Photography, volume 5, number 4, Cincinnati, Oh.: Automobile Digest Publishing Corp., →OCLC, page 16, column 1:
"This new pen operates on the principle of capillary attraction. It writes with greater ease than the smoothest lead pencil; writes on cloth or paper submerged in water or in an airplane at the ceiling of stratospheric air travel without leaking; writes on glossy paper, soft paper, blotting paper, or cloth without spreading."
— 1945 August, “New Products and Processes”, in Orson D[esaix] Munn, editor, Scientific American, volume 173, number 2, New York, N.Y.: Munn & Co., […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 114, column 3:
"During the World War he [Jean Piccard] became professor of organic chemistry at Chicago, but later he changed his field. The famous stratospheric flights of his brother Auguste [Piccard]—they are very similar twins and their voices on the radio indistinguishable—caused him to turn to aeronautics and to take on a professorship in aeronautical engineering at the University of Minnesota."
— 1965 March 25, Richard Willstätter, “Professorship at Zurich”, in Lilli S[chwenk] Hornig, transl., From My Life: The Memoirs of Richard Willstätter […], New York, N.Y.; Amsterdam: W. A. Cummings, →OCLC, page 201:
"Halocarbons (which include CFCs [chlorofluorocarbons] and halons) are potent stratospheric ozone depleters as well as greenhouse gases. Concern over their role as a threat to the ozone layer led in September 1987 to "The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer" (or the Montreal Protocol)."
— 1990 December, “Technological Options for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions”, in Daniel A. Lashof, Dennis A. Tirpak, editors, Policy Options for Stabilizing Global Climate: Report to Congress (21P-2003.1), Washington, D.C.: Office of Policy, Planning and Evaluation, United States Environmental Protection Agency, →OCLC, page 34, column 2:
"The stratospheric temperatures in Saturn's atmosphere are generally lower than those found in Jupiter's, which might be expected from Saturn's increased distance from the Sun. However, the stratospheric temperatures of Uranus and Neptune are noticeably and puzzlingly different."
— 2009, Patrick G. J. Irwin, “Vertical Structure of Temperature, Composition, and Clouds”, in Philippe Blondel, John Mason, editors, Giant Planets of Our Solar System: Atmospheres, Composition, and Structure (Springer-Praxis Books in Astronomy and Planetary Sciences), 2nd edition, Berlin; Heidelberg: Springer; Chichester, West Sussex: Praxis Publishing, →ISBN, section 4.1.4 (Temperature/Pressure Profiles of the Outer Planets), page 83:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The company's ____ profits amazed everyone last year because they were so huge.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The record-breaking costs of the project reached a ____ level that was far higher than we expected.