gold standard

noun

1

: a monetary standard under which the basic unit of currency is defined by a stated quantity of gold and which is usually characterized by the coinage and circulation of gold, unrestricted convertibility of other money into gold, and the free export and import of gold for settling of international obligations

2

: benchmark sense 1a

Synonyms

• standard
• criterion
• benchmark

Examples of gold standard in a Sentence

the gold standard for accurate experimental procedures is the double-blind medication trial

Recent Examples on the Web

In the 1960s, the Golden State’s K-12 school system was the nation’s gold standard. —John Seiler, Oc Register, 16 Sep. 2025

While highly customizable, powerful, and certainly still the industry gold standard, Nvidia makes chips and AI infrastructure hardware that are not specific to any one company. —Zev Fima, CNBC, 11 Sep. 2025

In fact, the FDA's regulatory pathway represents the global gold standard—nothing else comes close. —Matt Lowe, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025

The recent gold standard was Curb Your Enthusiasm, for which Larry David was nominated for several Emmys for playing himself. —Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1811, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for gold standard

• meandered
• nonstandard
• substandard
• slandered