top-tier

adjective

ˈtäp-ˈtir 

: of the highest level or rank with regard to quality, reputation, or importance

Top-tier wines are the result of artisanal production techniques that demand rigorous attention to detail and, on occasion, financial sacrifice.

—Daniel Sogg

In general, the top-tier schools measure their success by the salaries that their graduates earn …

—Peter Baida

… leave fellow Republicans open to attack on what's shaping up as a top-tier issue in the 2008 elections.

—Mark Hertsgaard

Yes, this Kansas team is loaded with top-tier talent …

—Joe Posnanski

Kemp's first objective, his handlers said, was to establish himself as a top-tier contender.

—Lucy Howard>

Examples of top-tier in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Pirates already face an uphill battle in landing top-tier free agents. —Aaliyan Mohammed, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Dec. 2025

Thornton’s knack for delivering profanity is top-tier. —William Earl, Variety, 7 Dec. 2025

Lucid aimed its pricing guns squarely at Tesla toward the end of 2020, with a sub-$80,000 base price that converted to under $70k when tax credits were chopped off – though the top-tier Dream Edition did come in more than twice that at $169,000. —New Atlas, 6 Dec. 2025

That sure doesn’t sound like a top-tier unit. —Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 4 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1879, in the meaning defined above