percentile

noun

per·​cen·​tile pər-ˈsen-ˌtī(-ə)l 

: a value on a scale of 100 that indicates the percent of a distribution that is equal to or below it

a score in the 95th percentile

Examples of percentile in a Sentence

His height and weight are in the 80th percentile for boys his age.

Recent Examples on the Web

Throughout the season there was no letup in spending by the nation’s wealthiest, with by some statistics the top 10 income percentile accounting for 50 percent of spending. —David Moin, Footwear News, 26 Dec. 2025

Even Trocheck’s max skating speed hit the 99th percentile last season. —Harman Dayal, New York Times, 24 Dec. 2025

This year, iin his first season as an everyday first baseman, Contreras ranked in the 77th percentile in fielding run value and the 91st percentile in OAA. —Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 23 Dec. 2025

Nvidia is trading at 25-times forward earnings, putting the stock in the eleventh percentile of valuation over the past 10 years, Bernstein said Friday in a note to clients. —Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 19 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1885, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for percentile

• campanile
• chrysotile
• domicil
• domicile
• mercantile
• neuropil
• nonpareil
• peristyle
• reconcile
• thermopile
• aisle
• bile

Medical Definition

percentile

noun

per·​cen·​tile pər-ˈsen-ˌtīl 

: a value on a scale of one hundred that indicates the percent of a distribution that is equal to or below it

a percentile score of 95 is a score equal to or better than 95 percent of the scores