gold star
Americannoun
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a gold-colored star displayed, as on a service flag, to indicate that a member of one's family, organization, or the like, was killed in war as a member of the armed forces.
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Informal.
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symbolic approval or recognition for outstanding merit or effort.
You get the gold star for cooking such a gourmet dinner.
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anything that represents an outstanding effort or achievement.
Her promotion was the gold star she'd been working for.
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of gold star
An Americanism dating back to 1920–25
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sarah Krieger recently got the shiniest gold star at work.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025
“I’ll give a gold star to whoever drafted the ordinance for creativity. This is some of the most tortured legal reasoning I have ever read,” she said during a council meeting early this month.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 18, 2024
Like there’s some gold star we get for being frugal or sticking to a budget.
From Slate • Mar. 28, 2024
That was a difficult alarm to get up for but if you're here with us, gold star.
From BBC • Mar. 22, 2024
I also saw a pack of those gold star stickers Rose had stuck on her buildings.
From "The Stars Beneath Our Feet" by David Barclay Moore
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
