- present participle of rank.
ranking
Americanadjective
noun
-
rankings
plural
-
an act or instance of indicating relative standing.
-
a list showing such standing.
adjective
-
prominent; high ranking
-
slang possessed of style; fashionable; exciting
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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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"The Fast and the Fuel-Efficient" and "Teens Open Doors"
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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.
See Examples For:
But players aged 21 or under featured for 1,088 minutes for the club last season, ranking Everton only 17th in the Premier League.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Seats would be awarded by moving down that ranking until each party had filled its national allocation.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 2, 2026
Neither ranking includes Smith among the top 100.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
Winds drifting south meant the capital Washington was also hard-hit, coming in at the second-highest "very unhealthy" ranking on the index, when authorities urge all people to avoid unnecessary outdoor activity.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Because this was my first local tournament, and I didn’t have a ranking of any sort, I was randomly placed in a tough pool with the number one seed.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
Social media has democratized food storytelling in remarkable ways, but it has also created an endless stream of restaurant rankings, viral menu hacks and “must-try” lists that reward speed over substance.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
But by reaching the final he's assured of reaching a career-high 15th in the rankings.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
The Baseball America prospect rankings put Hope at No. 55, with Ryan outside the top 100.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
According to Spotrac’s contract rankings, which include deals announced but not yet finalized, the $3,876,529 James will take home next season is the 292nd-ranked payday in the NBA.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
I try to get Tobias alone after the rankings are announced, but the crowd of initiates and members is too thick, and the force of their congratulations pulls him away from me.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
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.
