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

Volume in penny stocks is now running in the 98 th percentile of all periods since 1990, and turnover in stocks with enterprise-value-to-sales ratios above 10 is in the 96 th , the firm says. —Michael Santoli, CNBC, 26 July 2025

His average exit velocity sits at 87.2 mph, in the 15th percentile of MLB. —Charlotte Varnes, New York Times, 25 July 2025

At this stage of his career, Paul is neither a major threat to score (19th percentile in points per 75 possessions) nor a credible defender (31st percentile Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus, per Dunks & Threes). —Mat Issa, Forbes.com, 23 July 2025

Last season, according to Statcast numbers cited by The Athletic, Volpe ranked in top 97th percentile of all defensive players. —Jon Vankin, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 July 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