top-tier

American

[top-teer] / ˈtɒpˈtɪər /

adjective

of or among the highest rank, level, importance, or quality.

It was again named the top-tier exterior house paint.
She was sought after by three top-tier college basketball teams.

Etymology

Origin of top-tier

First recorded in 1940–45; top ¹ ( def. ) + tier ¹ ( def. )

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.

So did Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Louisville and a host of other top-tier hoops programs.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2026

All the most powerful and advanced AI models - known as frontier AI - are developed outside of the UK, with the top-tier companies based in the US or China.

From BBC • Apr. 21, 2026

And soon, someone booking a top-tier Delta seat will see an option to skip the terminal for a private cabin.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

"The ongoing wait for DeepSeek V4 points to friction in scaling advanced models without unrestricted access to top-tier Nvidia hardware," Wu said.

From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026

I wanted the best of both worlds—the thrill and the drama of high school with all my friends and a top-tier gymnastics career.

From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023