stratospheric

adj

1. Of, relating to, or occurring in the stratosphere (“the region of the uppermost atmosphere”).

   “Stratospheric fighting brings a new dimension to warfare, taking it into the realm of the fantastic—like an Orson Wells^([sic – meaning Orson Welles]) drama in which cities are bombed from the stratosphere beyond reach of anti-aircraft fire and barrage balloon and in relative safety from enemy pursuit ships.”

   “This new pen operates on the principle of capillary attraction. It writes with greater ease than the smoothest lead pencil; writes on cloth or paper submerged in water or in an airplane at the ceiling of stratospheric air travel without leaking; writes on glossy paper, soft paper, blotting paper, or cloth without spreading.”

   “During the World War he [Jean Piccard] became professor of organic chemistry at Chicago, but later he changed his field. The famous stratospheric flights of his brother Auguste [Piccard]—they are very similar twins and their voices on the radio indistinguishable—caused him to turn to aeronautics and to take on a professorship in aeronautical engineering at the University of Minnesota.”

   “Halocarbons (which include CFCs [chlorofluorocarbons] and halons) are potent stratospheric ozone depleters as well as greenhouse gases. Concern over their role as a threat to the ozone layer led in September 1987 to "The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer" (or the Montreal Protocol).”

   “The stratospheric temperatures in Saturn's atmosphere are generally lower than those found in Jupiter's, which might be expected from Saturn's increased distance from the Sun. However, the stratospheric temperatures of Uranus and Neptune are noticeably and puzzlingly different.”

2. (colloquial, figuratively)Unusually or unreasonably high; astronomical.

   “The hotel charged stratospheric prices for a simple cooked breakfast.”

   “Parmenides, we recall, denied the possibility of change because it seemed to involve a passage from non-being to being, from nothing to something. Discussed on this stratospheric level, his argument appears to be irrefutable.”

   “[...] [Simon] Stephens is one of Britain's most highly regarded playwrights, and the director, Marianne Elliott, is a key player in the stratospheric success of War Horse at the National Theatre.”

   “The continued volatility of financial markets has spurred buyers to seek safe havens in super-prime real estate, from London to New York and Hong Kong, begetting stratospheric prices and minting a whole new category that defies the usual rules of the marketplace: the "trophy property".”

   “Inspired by the stratospheric rise in video-on-demand platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+, Quibi was an attempt to distil human's social media behaviour down into one platform.”