sky-highadj.adv.
/ˌskʌɪˈhʌɪ/, U.S. /ˌskaɪˈhaɪ/ A. adj.
1. Extending far upwards as if reaching the sky; very tall.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > vertical extent > [adjective] > great or considerable
higheOE
steepOE
heaven-highOE
highlyOE
brentc1400
hightc1480
hichty1513
procere1542
tall1548
spiringa1552
towereda1552
tower-like1552
upstretched1563
airy1565
excelse1569
haughty1570
topless1589
lofty1590
procerous1599
kiss-sky1603
skyish1604
topful?1611
aspiringc1620
sky-high1622
hiddy1632
tiptoed1632
sublime1635
towering1638
soaring1687
mountain high1693
clamberinga1717
skied1730
towery1731
pyramidic1740
skyey1750
skyward1792
skyscraping1797
exulting1798
high-reaching1827
steepling1892
high-rise1964
hi1972
1622 D. Digges tr. Virgil Didos Death sig. A5v Huge threatning wall With skie-high Engen [L. aequata..machina caelo] stands as it would fall.
1841 T. Carlyle On Heroes i. 62 Utgard with its skyhigh gates..had gone to air.
1887 Boston Sunday Globe 2 Oct. 4/1 You've got a sky high building.
1943 Sunday Jrnl. & Star (Lincoln, Nebraska) 11 Apr. (advt.) c8 Open-toe, patent pump with sky-high heel.
1990 Boston Phoenix 27 Apr. c18/2 There were..taffeta dresses and sky-high hair-dos.
2013 N.Y. Mag. 19 Aug. 182 (advt.) On the terrace you'll find a sky-high, fully irrigated green wall with over a thousand potted plants.
2. Very high in price, level, or degree.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > high price or rate > [adjective]
high1542
strong1599
rank1604
exorbitant1670
extravagant1707
stiff1824
sky-high1829
steep1856
stratospherical1936
1829 St. James's Chron. 22 Jan. Our import duties are sky-high.
1875 Trewman's Exeter Flying Post 3 Nov. 8/2 These are sky-high politics.
1926 J. Devanny Butcher Shop vi. 59 Make a whackin' cheque on 'em this year. Prices are sky high.
1959 Times 7 Sept. 11/6 The current miracle of labour-saving flats, sky-high wages, and welfare state.
1991 T. Mo Redundancy of Courage (1992) xv. 158 Morale remained sky-high for a few months more.
2015 Huddersfield Daily Examiner 1 Dec. 16 Christmas is an expensive time as it is without heaping on the added cost of sky-high interest rates.
B. adv.
1. Very high; to a very high level or degree. Cf. to the skies at sky n.1 Phrases 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > vertical extent > [adverb] > to a great or considerable height
highOE
heaven-high?1518
loftily1548
tower-wise1581
a-cock-hye1598
tally1611
eminently1620
spirally1806
sky-high1818
toweringly1822
1818 Lady Morgan in Passages from Autobiogr. (1859) 208 Opinions which would make the bench of bishops jump sky-high!
1887 G. R. Sims Mary Jane's Mem. 62 Always up sky-high or down in the dumps.
1915 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Jrnl.-Gaz. 6 Dec. 4/2 A good play may be able to draw the crowd on its reputation. But a poor one has to be puffed sky high.
1990 Horse & Pony 13 Sept. 59 The association's ‘Great Balloon Race’ takes place in December—and organisers are hoping it will boost funds sky high.
2015 Free Press Jrnl. (India) (Nexis) 30 Nov. He got persons of his choice appointed as state BJP chiefs, who went at great lengths to praise him sky-high.
2. to blow sky-high.
a. To refute, discredit, or disprove (an opinion, theory, etc.). Cf. explode v. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > refutation, disproof > refute, disprove [verb (transitive)]
answerOE
bitavelena1225
allayc1275
confoundc1384
concludea1400
conclusea1400
forblenda1400
gainsaya1400
rejag1402
to bear downc1405
redarguea1425
repugn?a1425
reverse?c1430
improvec1443
reprovea1513
dissolve1529
revince1529
convince1530
confute1533
refel1534
refute1545
void1570
evict1583
infringe1590
reprehend1597
revert1598
evince1608
repel1613
to take off1618
unbubblea1640
invalid1643
invalidate1649
remove1652
retund1653
effronta1657
dispute1659
unreason1661
have1680
demolish1691
to blow sky-high1819
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > criticism > criticize [verb (transitive)] > severely
to be sharp upon1561
crossbite1571
scarify1582
canvass1590
maul1592
slasha1652
fib1665
to be severe on (or upon)1672
scalp1676
to pull to (or in) pieces1703
roast1710
to cut up1762
tomahawk1815
to blow sky-high1819
row1826
excoriate1833
scourge1835
target1837
slate1848
scathe1852
to take apart1880
soak1892
pan1908
burn1914
slam1916
sandbag1919
to put the blast on (someone)1929
to tear down1938
clobber1944
handbag1952
rip1961
monster1976
1819 Maryland Herald & Hagers-town Weekly Advertiser 14 Sept. Correct the bad grammar, &c. lest..the ‘Bungler’ might blow me sky high.
1847 Godey's Lady's Bk. Jan. 26/1 Yer aunt blowed me up sky high, for makin such an unprudent speech.
1948 Daily Tel. 29 May 2/6 [He] blew sky-high the complacent superstition of a war-time ‘renaissance’.
1951 N. Mitford Blessing i. viii. 83 At this dinner Grace's preconceived ideas about the French..were blown sky high.
1981 Globe & Mail 29 July But the situation has changed, it seems, and the old excuse blown sky-high.
2014 Metro (Nexis) 23 May 23 A star witness has been found to blow the defendant's story sky high.
b. To blow up, explode; to destroy by explosion. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > break [verb (intransitive)] > shatter or break to pieces or burst > blow up or explode
to blow up1697
to blow sky-high1823
poof1915
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > break [verb (transitive)] > break to pieces, shatter, or burst > blow up or explode
to blow away1523
blow1599
to blow (shiver, smash, tear, etc.) to or into atoms1612
blast1758
to blow sky-high1823
dynamite1881
lyddite1906
1823 J. K. Paulding Koningsmarke II. viii. v. 228 If it were not for the shedding of christian blood,..I would, peradventure, blow thee and thy ships sky high.
1830 Vermont Patriot & State Gaz. 8 Mar. Two persons at the U. S. Arsenal near Baltimore were recently blown ‘sky high,’ while preparing fireworks for the 22d of Feb.
1866 Flake's Daily Galveston (Texas) Bull. 22 Mar. 6/1 Colonial outlets..afforded a political safety-valve that prevented her [sc. England's] aristocracy from being blown sky-high.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 918 The house is demolished stone by stone, not blown sky-high.
1965 Albuquerque (New Mexico) Tribune 19 Feb. c10 There was a lot of ammunition on the boat and it would have blown sky high if they fired at it.
2015 Contra Costa (Calif.) Times (Nexis) 25 Sept. If the combined creativity of these employees had been unleashed, the roof of that auditorium would have blown sky high.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2017; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.adv.1622