Sky Definition: Explanation, Facts, and Practice

Define “sky” by looking at how native speakers typically use this word daily. Read and listen to every sentence carefully and try to come up with something own.

“Sky” is simple, but knowing related terms will help you describe different conditions and beautiful views more accurately.

Related nouns: atmosphere air space

Synonyms (contextual): none, it is a specific noun

Common collocations: blue sky cloudy sky night sky

These word combinations will answer your question of how to say “sky” to talk about weather and nature in your conversations.

With adjectives: clear sky dark sky overcast sky starry sky

With verbs: look at the sky scan the sky photo a sky point at the sky

With nouns (noun + noun): sky color sky view sky diving sky blue

These expressions will add depth and color to your English, helping you express ideas about limits, moods and possibilities using the idiomatic “sky” meaning.

• The sky’s the limit — there are no limits to what you can achieve; anything is possible.

  With your talent and hard work, the sky’s the limit for your career.

• Out of a clear blue sky — something that happens suddenly and unexpectedly, without warning.

  Out of a clear blue sky, my best friend announced she was moving to another country.

• Pie in the sky — something pleasant to think about but very unlikely to happen; an unrealistic plan or idea.

  His plan to become a millionaire in one year is just pie in the sky.

• Reach for the sky — to aim very high; to be ambitious (also used as a command to raise your hands up).

  Don’t be afraid to reach for the sky, you’re capable of amazing things.

• The sky is falling — to panic unnecessarily about something; to believe disaster is coming when it’s not.

  Don’t act like the sky is falling just because you got one bad grade.

See how much you’ve learned about the “sky” and check whether you can use these expressions and the word itself correctly in context.

See how to spell “sky” in different languages such as Spanish, French and German.

The “sky” above us holds more mysteries and surprises than you might think — here are some details that will change how you look up.

• The sky is not blue in the true sense.

  The blue sky effect is the result of Rayleigh scattering, a physical phenomenon. Gas molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere scatter sunlight and spread blue light, which has a shorter wavelength than other colors.

• You might be able to see farther than you think.

  The Andromeda galaxy, located about 2.5 million light-years away, is the farthest object visible to the naked eye on a clear night. When you see it, you are looking at light that began its journey millions of years ago.

• The sky of the past was different.

  Around 4 billion years ago, Earth’s sky was not blue. Due to lower oxygen levels and a different atmospheric composition, the sky may have appeared orange or even pinkish.

• The sky changes color depending on your position.

  At sunrise and sunset, the sky often appears red or orange because sunlight travels through more atmosphere. This causes shorter blue wavelengths to scatter away, leaving warmer colors visible.

Famous writers and thinkers have used phrases with “sky” as inspiration for profound ideas about freedom, dreams and the human spirit.