ranking

[rang-king]

adjective

1. senior or superior in rank, position, etc..

   a ranking diplomat.

2. prominent or highly regarded.

   a ranking authority on Soviet affairs.

3. occupying a specific rank, position, etc. (often used in combination).

   a low-ranking executive.

noun

1. an act or instance of indicating relative standing.

2. a list showing such standing.

ranking

/ ˈræŋkɪŋ /

adjective

1. prominent; high ranking

2. slang,  possessed of style; fashionable; exciting

noun

1. a position on a scale; rating

   a ranking in a tennis tournament

Word History and Origins

Origin of ranking¹

First recorded in 1860–65; rank ¹ + -ing ², -ing ¹

Example Sentences

For 31 years Labradors topped the American Kennel Club’s purebred rankings, which are based on more than one million annual registrations.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Armed with video clips, stats and an eye for detail, Cayer elevated the Scot's game - leading to two Grand Slam men's doubles titles and the world number one ranking in 2016.

Read more on BBC

The United States currently leads the field but Europe and Japan also have models in the top 10, according to an industry ranking of high-performance computing.

Read more on Barron's

Their two series victories during his tenure have come in Bangladesh and at home to West Indies - teams that are ranked ninth and eighth respectively in the International Cricket Council's Test rankings.

Read more on BBC

Famous stars were selected from the top 2,000 Artists of All Time, a list collated by the ranking website Acclaimed Music.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• extent 
• proportion 
• range 
• rate 
• ratio 
• scope 
• system