hierarchy

noun

hi·​er·​ar·​chy ˈhī-(ə-)ˌrär-kē 

 also  ˈhi(-ə)r-ˌär-

plural hierarchies

1

: a division of angels

2

a

: a ruling body of clergy organized into orders or ranks each subordinate to the one above it

especially : the bishops of a province or nation

b

: church government by a hierarchy

3

: a body of persons in authority

4

: the classification of a group of people according to ability or to economic, social, or professional standing

also : the group so classified

5

: a graded or ranked series

a hierarchy of values

Did you know?

What did hierarchy originally mean?

The earliest meaning of hierarchy in English has to do with the ranks of different types of angels in the celestial order. The idea of categorizing groups according to rank readily transferred to the organization of priestly or other governmental rule. The word hierarchy is, in fact, related to a number of governmental words in English, such as monarchy, anarchy, and oligarchy, although it itself is now very rarely used in relation to government.

The word comes from the Greek hierarchēs, which was formed by combining the words hieros, meaning “supernatural, holy,” and archos, meaning. “ruler.” Hierarchy has continued to spread its meaning beyond matters ecclesiastical and governmental, and today is commonly found used in reference to any one of a number of different forms of graded classification.

Synonyms

• ladder
• ranking
• scale

Examples of hierarchy in a Sentence

… he wrote a verse whose metaphors were read somewhere in the Baathist hierarchy as incitement to Kurdish nationalism. —Geraldine Brooks, Los Angeles Times, 30 Dec. 2001

Whereas the monkeys normally hew to strict hierarchies when it comes to who gets the best food and who grooms whom, there are no obvious top or rotten bananas in the sharing of millipede secretions. —Natalie Angier, New York Times, 5 Dec. 2000

The idea that social order has to come from a centralized, rational, bureaucratic hierarchy was very much associated with the industrial age. —Francis Fukuyama, Atlantic, May 1999

The church hierarchy faced resistance to some of their decisions.

He was at the bottom of the corporate hierarchy.

a rigid hierarchy of social classes

Recent Examples on the Web

Rigid hierarchies and siloed communication create drag at precisely the moment companies must move faster. —Brent Gleeson, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2025

Inspired by his time in the military, the kitchen brigade, as it’s known, was modeled after the army, in which rank and hierarchy determines the chain of command. —Vivian Song, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2025

In 1896, the Impressionist painter William Merritt Chase was ready to declare independence from the rigid hierarchies of the New York art scene and its dependence on European masters and methods. —Anne Halsey, JSTOR Daily, 6 Aug. 2025

Rewriting the Script of Access and Authorship Artist’s Table is WOAH’s (Work of Art Holdings) answer to the rigid hierarchies of the art world. —Skylar Mitchell, Essence, 5 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English ierarchie rank or order of holy beings, from Anglo-French jerarchie, from Medieval Latin hierarchia, from Late Greek, from Greek hierarchēs

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing hierarchy

• celestial hierarchy

Rhymes for hierarchy

• matriarchy
• oligarchy
• patriarchy
• arche
• sparky
• autarky
• menarche

Kids Definition

hierarchy

noun

hi·​er·​ar·​chy ˈhī-(ə-)ˌrär-kē 

plural hierarchies

1

: a ruling body especially of clergy organized into ranks

2

a

: an arrangement into a series according to rank

b

: persons or things arranged in ranks or classes