ranking
Americanadjective
noun
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an act or instance of indicating relative standing.
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a list showing such standing.
adjective
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prominent; high ranking
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slang possessed of style; fashionable; exciting
noun
Etymology
Origin of ranking
Explanation
Your spot on a scale is your ranking. If your football team has a #10 ranking and you’re playing #1, well good luck. Your class ranking is how you measure up. The student with the highest ranking is the valedictorian. All kinds of things have rankings, from the top 100 colleges in the US to a person's constantly updated list of favorite horror movies. Athletes and the teams they play for have rankings too. In the military, someone who has a higher rank, or position, than anyone else who's present might say, "As the ranking officer, I'll command the troops to retreat."
Vocabulary lists containing ranking
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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.
While we await the nominations for the 98th Academy Awards, take a spin through our ranking of the 101 best Los Angeles movies.
From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026
Warren, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, also asked for information about the use of an artificial-intelligence chatbot to provide customer service.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
PWB leads for one-three- and five-year returns, while ranking sixth for 10 years.
From MarketWatch • May 27, 2026
Scotland is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world, ranking 28th from the bottom of a list of 240 countries and territories.
From BBC • May 21, 2026
I quickly became the best saber fencer on the Columbia High School team, and I watched my ranking rise at the local competitions, often coming home with medals in my hand.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
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.
