skyscraper

skyscraper — noun

1. a type of extremely tall building that rises high above the other buildings arou

1.nounB1
Definition

a type of extremely tall building that rises high above the other buildings around it in a city, usually containing many floors for offices, apartments, or shops

Example

The new skyscraper in Taipei has over one hundred floors for offices and shops.

collocation: [number] floors for [purpose]

Sari went to the top of the skyscraper and saw the whole city below.

verb collocation: take the lift / elevator to the top

Common collocations
  • tall skyscraper
  • office skyscraper
  • residential skyscraper
  • skyscraper rises above
  • build a skyscraper
  • skyscraper reaches [number] floors
  • top of the skyscraper
  • glass skyscraper
Synonyms
  • high-rise

    a general term for any building with many floors; less extreme in height than a skyscraper

  • tower

    can mean any tall, narrow structure, not necessarily a building with multiple occupiable floors

  • tower block

    chiefly British; often refers to a tall residential building, less glamorous than a skyscraper

Antonyms
  • low-rise

    a building with only a few floors, usually under four stories

  • bungalow

    a single-storey house, the opposite extreme in height

Common Mistakes

I live in a skyscraper in the suburbs.
I live in a skyscraper in the city centre.
skyscrapers are almost always found in cities or dense urban areas, not suburbs.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Skyscraper, high-rise, tower block, and tower all refer to tall structures, but they differ in height and context. Skyscraper is the most dramatic term — it suggests a modern, extremely tall building (often 40+ stories) and is widely used in American and international English. High-rise is a broader term for any building with many floors (typically 10+ stories) and does not carry the same connotation of record-breaking height. Tower block is the common British term for a tall, often plain residential building — less glamorous than a skyscraper. Tower can mean any slender, tall structure (a church tower, an office tower) and may not even be a full building with occupiable floors. For example: 'She lives on the 14th floor of a high-rise near the station' sounds ordinary, while 'The Burj Khalifa is the world's tallest skyscraper' conveys awe. A multistorey building is a neutral term for any building with several floors and implies no particular height at all.

high-rise ↗tower blocktower ↗multistorey building

Common collocations

Nouns

  • skyscraper construction
  • skyscraper design
  • skyscraper window
  • skyscraper view

Phrases

  • build a skyscraper
  • skyscraper rises above the city

Prepositions

  • in a skyscraper
  • at the top of a skyscraper

Etymology

EnglishEnglish

Skyscraper combines 'sky' (the upper atmosphere) and 'scraper' (something that scratches or touches). The word was first used in the late 1800s for the very tall buildings being built in Chicago and New York, as they seemed tall enough to touch the sky. Before that, the term had been used for a tall sail on a ship and for a type of baseball hit.