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

Data from the theory’s proponents indicate that moving from low (10th percentile) to high (90th percentile) exposure to Chinese imports would result in a loss of roughly 2,700 manufacturing jobs, just a 1.4-percentage-point drop in overall manufacturing employment. —Veronique De Rugy, Oc Register, 5 June 2025

During his 20-win season, his average fastball velocity of 97.2 mph ranked in 92nd percentile. —Andrew Wright, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 June 2025

The blue patch was given to kids who scored at or above 85% of the national percentile on the test’s five aspects (endurance run, shuttle run, sit-ups, sit-and-reach and pull-ups or push-ups). —Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 4 June 2025

That total dollar value ranks in the 86th percentile for net buying or selling in similar rebalances since 2000, according to Goldman. —Jesse Pound, CNBC, 29 May 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