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

This is how deeply hierarchical and authoritarian institutions function.

From Salon • Jan. 20, 2026

Officers and staff were required to declare membership "past or present" of any organisation that was "hierarchical, has confidential membership and requires members to support and protect each other".

From BBC • Jan. 13, 2026

This is how leadership always works in practice, even in organizations less hierarchical than the military.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 16, 2025

For many years, scholars believed that constructing Poverty Point required a strictly organized, hierarchical society working across generations.

From Science Daily • Nov. 24, 2025

But it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth threatened the destruction—indeed, in some sense was the destruction—of a hierarchical society.

From "1984" by George Orwell