Skyrocket means to rise or increase extremely quickly, like a rocket shooting up into the sky. When prices skyrocket, they jump from reasonable to expensive almost overnight. When someone's popularity skyrockets, they go from unknown to famous in what feels like an instant.

The word captures that explosive upward movement. A company's sales might skyrocket after a celebrity mentions their product. A student's confidence might skyrocket after acing a difficult test they worked hard to prepare for. Temperatures skyrocket on a summer afternoon when the sun beats down without any clouds for relief.

Skyrocket usually describes changes that happen surprisingly fast, not gradual improvements over time. If your little brother's height increased by six inches over the summer, you might say it skyrocketed. If he grew slowly and steadily over two years, you probably wouldn't use that word.

The term comes from actual skyrockets, those fireworks that shoot straight up into the night sky with a whoosh before bursting into colorful patterns. Just like those fireworks, when something skyrockets, it moves upward with dramatic speed and force.