pacesetter

noun

pace·​set·​ter ˈpās-ˌse-tər How to pronounce pacesetter (audio)
pacesetting adjective

Example Sentences

a company that has been a pacesetter in its field for offering health care benefits to employees
Recent Examples on the Web Because Documenta was always a pacesetter — and this year’s edition certainly put its finger on a larger shift, seen too in our museums, our art schools and our magazines, away from aesthetic ambition and intellectual seriousness and toward the easier comforts of togetherness, advocacy and fun. Jason Farago, New York Times, 23 Sep. 2022 He’s still got two shots with Authentic (18, 8-1), the likely pacesetter who will start from the far outside, and Thousand Words (10, 12-1), who upset Honor A.P. in his last race. Dana Gauruder, Detroit Free Press, 3 Sep. 2020 In 1962, at a 50-mile swim from Chicago to Kenosha, Wis., an Egyptian team relied on Ms. Andersen as the event pacesetter. Michael S. Rosenwald, Washington Post, 2 Mar. 2023 The pacesetter remained Nehru’s India, whose alternative drug economy was perceived by U.S. drug companies as a threat, not just to its profits in developing countries but to the very legitimacy of monopoly medicine, including inside the U.S., where the real money was made. Alexander Zaitchik, The New Republic, 1 June 2021 But the pacesetter here is the genuinely terrific Netflix Formula 1 series Drive to Survive, about to debut its fifth season, which is rightly credited with a surge of interest in the sport. Taylor Antrim, Vogue, 17 Feb. 2023 Then, Corum, its pacesetter, hurt his knee and the Wolverines started to show some cracks. Carlos Monarrez, Detroit Free Press, 25 Nov. 2022 During a speech in Egypt at the COP27 climate conference, Biden touted the United States as the global pacesetter in fighting climate change. Yasmeen Abutaleb, Washington Post, 12 Nov. 2022 The Prototype Festival, the pacesetter for contemporary music theatre in New York, postponed its tenth-anniversary season in January, a casualty of the Omicron surge. Oussama Zahr, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pacesetter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1895, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of pacesetter was in 1895

Dictionary Entries Near pacesetter

Cite this Entry

“Pacesetter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pacesetter. Accessed 2 Jun. 2023.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!