rater

noun

rat·​er ˈrā-tər How to pronounce rater (audio)
1
: one that rates
specifically : a person who estimates or determines a rating
2
: one having a specified rating or class
usually used in combination
first-rater

Examples of rater in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Research conducted by Six Seconds reveals that 62% of the variance in performance reviews comes from the rater's tendencies, while only 21% reflects the actual employee's performance. Caroline Castrillon, Forbes.com, 25 June 2025 Credit rating agency Moody’s, the last major credit rater to preserve triple-A status for U.S. sovereign debt, dropped its rating down to double-A last Friday after the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) put out cost estimates for the tax portion of the bill. Tobias Burns, The Hill, 24 May 2025 These reward models can fill in for the human raters, accelerating and broadening this fine-tuning process. Cal Newport, New Yorker, 3 June 2025 The White House has brushed aside the downgrade, describing it as largely symbolic and dismissing both the lagging indicator and the rater. Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for rater

Word History

First Known Use

1611, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of rater was in 1611

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Rater.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rater. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.

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!