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Glite Dictionary
in the stratosphere

in the stratosphere

1 7.9
Much higher than normal or expected
  • idiom
translation icon : en las nubes
  • If they had reported what truly was the reason for the gold outperformance, we'd have a bloody revolution on our hands and the gold price in the stratosphere.

Examples

  • Maybe the right thing to do if you already have beachfront property is to sell it ASAP while the prices are still up in the stratosphere.

    Blog text (23)

  • I love reading Pat Conroy, for instance, but there are several places in "Prince of Tides" where the vocabulary is so much in the stratosphere that it takes me out of the story and leaves me scratching my head.

    Blog text (14)

  • If that were true, one would think the forward curve for gas prices out through the end of this decade would be in the stratosphere somewhere.

    Blog text (14)

  • The company's stock is in the stratosphere, putting pressure on management to deliver knockout growth every quarter.

  • With real estate prices in the stratosphere and lenders dangling crazy credit, the onus is on you to make sure you don’t end up with more home than you can afford.

  • With the job market in flux and real estate values in the stratosphere, many young people simply can't afford to live on their own.

Synonyms

off the charts
vsin the stratosphere
  • Informal
31 6.2

Much higher than normal in amount or level

is more about loftiness and unusual range than being unmeasurably high
sky-high
vsin the stratosphere
14 4.5

Very high in amount, for example prices or bills

is used for lofty or unusually elevated ideas rather than vivid everyday emphasis
stratospheric
vsin the stratosphere
3 7.3

Extremely high in amount or level

is expressed as a full phrase rather than a single modifying word
skyscraping
vsin the stratosphere
4.4

Very tall, like a high building, or very large in amount

is applied mainly to ideas or prices rather than physical structures

Antonyms

to a lower place
1.0

Into a place that is lower down

How High

astronomical
30 5.6
in the stratosphere
1 7.9
sky-high
14 4.5
high
∞ 1.0
reasonable
302 2.2

Surface Forms

in the stratosphere main

Morphology

in + the + stratosphere

The phrase maps a literal spatial location ('stratosphere' = a very high atmospheric layer) onto degree, so 'in the stratosphere' naturally conveys 'extremely high' for prices or ambitions. This spatial-to-degree metaphor is direct and compositionally predictable, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer the figurative meaning.

Etymology

In the stratosphere comes from the image of the stratosphere, a very high layer of the sky above the clouds. When something is seen way up there and out of reach, the phrase came to mean 'very high' or 'extremely high' for prices, hopes, or ideas.