seniority
Americannoun
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seniorities
plural
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the state of being senior; priority of birth; superior age.
-
priority, precedence, or status obtained as the result of a person's length of service, as in a profession, trade, company, or union.
First choice of vacation time will be given to employees with seniority.
noun
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the state of being senior
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precedence in rank, etc, due to senior status
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of seniority
1400–50; late Middle English < Medieval Latin seniōritās, equivalent to Latin senior senior + -itās -ity
Explanation
Seniority refers to being ranked higher in an organization since you have been there longer. Who has seniority in a high school? The seniors of course! You know how older people are called senior citizens or seniors? That should help you remember what seniority is: the longer someone stays within an organization, the more they have of it. A new worker has hardly any seniority. Someone working at a job for 20 years has a lot of seniority. Having seniority is like having a higher rank or status.
Vocabulary lists containing seniority
The Watsons Go to Birmingham
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The Titan's Curse
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Selection Vocabulary 1, Unit 1
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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.
This included changes to the seniority system for House committee membership and some changes towards transparency.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
Bellingham was seen in England's dressing room presenting Liverpool's 17-year-old Rio Ngumoah with his first cap following his debut against New Zealand in Tampa, a sign of seniority even though he is still only 23.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
The role’s ambiguity, offering no hint of seniority or rank, is by design.
From MarketWatch ● May 9, 2026
Because of their seniority, the workers who were arrested were earning $15 to $18 an hour, plus tips.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
Miss Bennet’s lovely face confirmed his views, and established all his strictest notions of what was due to seniority; and for the first evening she was his settled choice.
From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
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.
