rating
1 Americannoun
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classification according to grade or rank.
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assigned position in a particular class or grade, or relative standing, as of a ship or a member of the armed forces.
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the credit standing of a person or firm.
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Radio, Television. a percentage indicating the number of listeners to or viewers of a specific program.
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a designated operating limit for a machine, apparatus, etc., as of voltage, load, or frequency, based on specified conditions.
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an amount fixed as a rate.
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British. apportioning of a tax.
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Chiefly British. one of the enlisted personnel in the British navy.
noun
noun
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a classification according to order or grade; ranking
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(in certain navies) a sailor who holds neither commissioned nor warrant rank; an ordinary seaman
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sailing a handicap assigned to a racing boat based on its dimensions, sail area, weight, draught, etc
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the estimated financial or credit standing of a business enterprise or individual
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radio television a figure based on statistical sampling indicating what proportion of the total listening and viewing audience tune in to a specific programme or network
noun
Etymology
Origin of rating1
First recorded in 1525–35; rat(e) 1 + -ing 1
Origin of rating2
Explanation
A rating is a valuation or rank on a scale. Hotels are often ranked from zero to five stars, so a fancy hotel with loads of amenities (like a pool and plush bathrobes) will usually have a five-star rating. A movie gets a rating based on which audience it’s appropriate for – as in, rated G for kids or rated R for adults. When a TV show gets good ratings, then a lot of people watch it. Before you buy an expensive item, like a bike or an appliance, you can read its ratings online, and once you've tried it out, you can provide your own rating.
Vocabulary lists containing rating
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.
Moody’s downgraded New Jersey’s second-largest city to a lower investment-grade rating in December, describing it as a “struggling city with a deteriorating liquidity profile.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
DBS raises its Hong Kong share target price to 8.50 Hong Kong dollars from HK$7.75 and maintains a buy rating.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
It raises the stock’s rating to outperform from neutral and the target price to Y4,000 from Y3,300.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
“If I had married when I was supposed to get married, I would have lost my name, my legal residence, my credit rating, many of my civil rights.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
All they knew was that Wall Street investment banks apparently employed people to do nothing but game the rating agencies’ models.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
