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.
Consumption by data centres is projected to exceed 945 TWh by 2030, ranking sixth among countries and emitting 399 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
From Barron's • Jun. 3, 2026
In May, this dusty district in India's Uttar Pradesh state spent days at the top of an unenviable national ranking: the hottest place in the country.
From BBC • Jun. 1, 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
He also argued that ranking applicants by SAT scores ends up disadvantaging high-achieving low-income, first-generation and underrepresented minorities.
From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026
Chronicler guessed he had been a low ranking officer not long ago.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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.
