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 of gold standard

• 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

Taiwan Semi remains the industry’s gold standard in chipmaking, but with the company operating near full capacity and the supply chain tigh t , Intel has an opportunity to win a lot of new foundry customers. —Jeff Marks, CNBC, 5 June 2026

For more direct assessment, fasting insulin levels, HOMA-IR and QUICKI are options, though Medscape notes that the euglycemic insulin clamp remains the research gold standard and is not used routinely in clinical practice. —Samantha Agate, Sacbee.com, 4 June 2026

Medscape notes the euglycemic insulin clamp remains the research gold standard but is not used in routine clinical practice. —Samantha Agate, Charlotte Observer, 3 June 2026

Executives point to Mass General Brigham’s hospitals soaring in quality rankings by Vizient, a health care analytics firm MGB called the industry gold standard. —Jessica Bartlett — Boston Globe, STAT, 21 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1811, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for gold standard

• meandered
• nonstandard
• substandard
• slandered