status

American  

[stey-tuhs, stat-uhs] / ˈsteɪ təs, ˈstæt əs /

noun

1. the position of an individual in relation to another or others, especially in regard to social or professional standing.

   Women in India have a lower status than men and therefore less control over money.

2. high social or professional standing; prestige.

   The Wilsons have status in the community because of their charitable work.

3. state or condition of affairs.

   Arbitration has failed to change the status of the disagreement.

4. Law. the standing of a person before the law.

   Those students can receive the same tax breaks as citizens, regardless of their status as immigrants.

5. Digital Technology. a short post on a social networking website or messaging application that gives information about the user’s present situation, activities, thoughts, etc..

   I changed my Facebook status from married to single.

---

adjective

1. conferring or believed to confer elevated status.

   a status car; a status job.

status British  

/ ˈsteɪtəs /

noun

1. a social or professional position, condition, or standing to which varying degrees of responsibility, privilege, and esteem are attached

2. the relative position or standing of a person or thing

3. a high position or standing; prestige

   he has acquired a new status since he has been in that job

4. the legal standing or condition of a person

5. a state of affairs

---

status Cultural  

1. The relative position of an individual within a group, or of a group within a society.

---

Usage

Plural word for status The plural form of status is statuses (not stati). Even though status is derived from Latin, it isn’t pluralized by replacing the -us ending with -i, as is done in many other Latin-derived words ending in -us, such as cactus/cacti and fungus/fungi. Most words ending in -s, -ss, -ch, -sh, -x, and -o follow the conventional pluralization pattern of simply adding -es. However, several other words that end in -us are pluralized in the same way as status, including surplus/surpluses and census/censuses. Do you know: What is the plural of radius?

Related Words

See state.

Discover More

Though the term can refer to either high or low standing, it is often used only to imply a position of prestige.

Other Word Forms

• nonstatus adjective

Etymology

Origin of status

First recorded in 1665–75; from Latin: “the condition of standing, stature, status,” equivalent to sta- (variant stem of stāre “to stand”) + -tus suffix of verbal action; stand

Example Sentences

After a debut that produced mixed results with a thin linebacker room, Ryan’s status has been up in the air over the past two months.

From Los Angeles Times

The resulting image is crystalline—and full of symbolic touches attesting to his status.

From The Wall Street Journal

The control group applied for the loan and were later notified if they received it, but didn’t get status updates along the way.

From The Wall Street Journal

Team GB have a structured pay scale for athletes depending on their status and how likely they are to win a medal at events such as the summer or winter Olympics and Paralympics.

From BBC

But when The Wall Street Journal asked about Gu’s status, that detail disappeared from Red Bull’s site and the brand didn’t answer questions about it.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• condition
• dignity
• place
• position
• prestige
• prominence
• quality
• rating
• situation
• stature