hierarchical

American  

[hahy-uh-rahr-ki-kuhl, hahy-rahr-] / ˌhaɪ əˈrɑr kɪ kəl, haɪˈrɑr- /

Also hierarchic

adjective

1. of, belonging to, or characteristic of a hierarchy.

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Other Word Forms

• antihierarchic
  adjective
• antihierarchical
  adjective
• antihierarchically
  adverb
• hierarchically
  adverb
• nonhierarchic
  adjective
• nonhierarchical
  adjective
• nonhierarchically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of hierarchical

1425–75; late Middle English. See hierarch, -ical

Explanation

If something is hierarchical it has clear levels of power and importance, such as a hierarchical corporation that has the boss at the top, or the hierarchical social order of junior high school popularity. It's lonely at the top. That pretty much sums up hierarchical, pronounced "high-eh-RAR-ki-cal." In a hierarchical structure, people or groups are arranged according to ability or status. It helps to think of a triangle, with the leader at the highest point, layers of managers under him or her, and at the base, or widest part, the masses of workers who make up the largest part of the organization.

Example Sentences

Li and her colleagues adapted a machine learning tool called the Hierarchical Vision Transformer and trained it on standard tissue images.

From Science Daily • Jan. 2, 2024

Within a few months, they change the name to “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle,” which is abbreviated to Yahoo.

From Washington Times • Jul. 25, 2016

Hierarchical status systems and the emergence of the status quo establishment create what we’ll refer to as the Status Dilemma, the “zero-sum” status contest that forms the core of many critiques of consumerism.

From Scientific American • May 8, 2015

Hierarchical clustering of 112 identified ion channels in developmental stages and adult tissues of Pleurobrachia.

From Nature • May 20, 2014

It had simply "divided into two great parties, the Prelatical or Hierarchical, headed by Laud, and the Nonconformist or Puritan."

From Anne Bradstreet and Her Time by Campbell, Helen