standard

play

noun stan·dard \ ˈstan-dərd \

Definition of standard

1 :a conspicuous object (such as a banner) formerly carried at the top of a pole and used to mark a rallying point especially in battle or to serve as an emblem

2 a :a long narrow tapering flag that is personal to an individual or corporation and bears heraldic devices

b :the personal flag of the head of a state or of a member of a royal family

c :an organization flag carried by a mounted or motorized military unit

d :banner 1

3 :something established by authority, custom, or general consent as a model or example :criterion

quite slow by today's standards

4 :something set up and established by authority as a rule for the measure of quantity, weight, extent, value, or quality

5 a :the fineness and legally fixed weight of the metal used in coins

b :the basis of value in a monetary system

the gold standard

6 :a structure built for or serving as a base or support

7 a :a shrub or herb grown with an erect main stem so that it forms or resembles a tree

b :a fruit tree grafted on a stock that does not induce dwarfing

8 a :the large odd upper petal of a papilionaceous flower (as of the pea)

b :one of the three inner usually erect and incurved petals of an iris

9 :a musical composition (such as a song) that has become a part of the standard repertoire

10 :a vehicle with a manual transmission :manual

Her new car is a standard.

—

standardless

adjective

See standard defined for English-language learners

See standard defined for kids

Examples of standard in a Sentence

By modern standards, the house is just too small.
This book is the standard by which all others must be judged.

Recent Examples of standard from the Web

Even where the policies are generous by U.S. standards, men still often get less.

— jordyn holman, Bloomberg.com, "Estee Lauder Sued for Discriminating Against New Fathers," 30 Aug. 2017
The University of Louisville has a modest endowment by national standards, but the U of L Foundation leads the nation in pay.

— justin price, The Courier-Journal, "U of L Foundation topped list of 10 highest-paid public university foundation execs in the nation," 30 Aug. 2017
For years, U.S. forecasters have envied their colleagues at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) in Reading, U.K., whose hurricane prediction models remain the gold standard.

— paul voosen, Science | AAAS, "Hurricane Harvey provides lab for U.S. forecast experiments," 28 Aug. 2017
Create exactly the storage your family needs by customizing a standard set of shelves with these easy solutions.

— martha stewart, star-telegram, "Martha’s projects tackle headboards, backpacks and savory snacks," 26 Aug. 2017
When the professional standards for her job changed, Julie Boyer knew what to do.

— donna kiesling, Post-Tribune, "For Lowell woman, nutrition scholarships provide food for thought," 24 Aug. 2017
That invention, by Charles Arthur Bunker, remains the can opener standard to this day.

— kat eschner, Smithsonian, "Why the Can Opener Wasn’t Invented Until Almost 50 Years After the Can," 24 Aug. 2017
Vanderpump has been on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (RHOBH, to the initiated) for all of the show’s seven seasons, and in that time she’s set the gold standard of Real Housewifery.

— allison p. davis, The Cut, "Lisa Vanderpump Is the Royalty America Craves," 23 Aug. 2017
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) sets safety standards for eclipse glasses, and while glasses with the newest certification can be used indefinitely, some other glasses have an expiration date of about 3 years.

— jay bennett, Popular Mechanics, "Done With Your Eclipse Glasses? Donate Them to Kids In Another Part of the World," 22 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'standard.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of standard

Middle English, from Anglo-French estandard banner, of Germanic origin; akin to Old English standan to stand and probably to Old High German hart hard

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 12th century

See Words from the same year

standard Synonyms

Synonyms

bar, barometer, benchmark, criterion, gold standard, grade, mark, measure, metric, par, touchstone, yardstick

Related Words

case, example, instance; average, norm, rule; acme, apex, meridian, peak, pinnacle, summit, zenith

Near Antonyms

aberration, abnormality, deviation

Synonym Discussion of standard

standard, criterion, gauge, yardstick, touchstone mean a means of determining what a thing should be. standard applies to any definite rule, principle, or measure established by authority.

- standards of behavior

criterion may apply to anything used as a test of quality whether formulated as a rule or principle or not.

- questioned the critic's criteria for excellence

gauge applies to a means of testing a particular dimension (such as thickness, depth, diameter) or figuratively a particular quality or aspect.

- polls as a gauge of voter dissatisfaction

yardstick is an informal substitute for criterion that suggests quantity more often than quality.

- housing construction as a yardstick of economic growth

touchstone suggests a simple test of the authenticity or value of something intangible.

- fine service is one touchstone of a first-class restaurant

Other Heraldry Terms

blazon, cachet, couchant, dormant, escutcheon, potent, totem

standard

adjective

Definition of standard

1 a :constituting or conforming to a standard especially as established by law or custom

standard weight

b :sound and usable but not of top quality

standard beef

2 a :regularly and widely used, available, or supplied

standard automobile equipment

b :well-established and very familiar

the standard opera

3 :having recognized and permanent value

a standard reference work

4 :substantially uniform and well established by usage in the speech and writing of the educated and widely recognized as acceptable

standard pronunciation is subject to regional variations

—

standardly

adverb

See standard defined for English-language learners

Examples of standard in a Sentence

a window of standard width
The movie was a pretty standard romantic comedy.
The word is considered standard.

Recent Examples of standard from the Web

For Schulz, Trump has become a standard attack line.

— patrick donahue, Bloomberg.com, "What We Learned on the German Campaign Trail: Week One," 18 Aug. 2017
That was Bartender Mike’s standard greeting throughout the weekend, including at the beginning of his movie location tour Saturday morning.

— katie calautti, HWD, "At the Dirty Dancing Lodge, Fans Can Have the Time of Their Lives," 18 Aug. 2017
For now the new high school is operating in two studio classrooms, which will hold up to 60 students, and four standard size classrooms.

— mará rose williams, kansascity, "New project-based high school opens in the Park Hill district," 16 Aug. 2017
The Court suggests its answer is limited only to this case, but no FOIA guilty-plea waiver could ever meet the standard employed here.

— jonathan h. adler, Washington Post, "Divided D.C. Circuit concludes criminal defendant’s FOIA rights may not be waived in plea deal," 5 Aug. 2017
The bushwacker is made with all the standard alcohol ingredients but it's also made with some of the finest vanilla bean ice cream.

— brian kelly | bkelly@al.com, AL.com, "The Alabama beach combo you have to try: Burger and a bushwacker," 4 Aug. 2017
CVT Soft Serve This is no standard ice cream truck operation.

— Los Angeles Magazine, "Your Life Is Incomplete Until You Taste the Heavenly Swirls of LA’s 4 Essential Soft-Serve Ice Cream Shops," 3 Aug. 2017
Front headroom is very tall at 40.5 inches with the standard panoramic (two panel) sunroof.

— mark maynard, sandiegouniontribune.com, "2017 Mini Cooper S Countryman ALL4: A 'happy trails' family wagon," 28 July 2017
Disney villainess Ursula's drag queen origins are pretty much standard Disney knowledge now, and her impossibly large and delightful hair and expressions have made her a cult beauty icon.

— lilian min, Cosmopolitan, "This All-Out Drag Ursula Makeup Does the Iconic Villainess Justice," 26 July 2017

First Known Use of standard

1567

standard Synonyms

Synonyms

average, common, commonplace, cut-and-dried (also cut-and-dry), everyday, garden-variety, normal, prosaic, routine, run-of-the-mill, ordinary, standard-issue, unexceptional, unremarkable, usual, workaday

Antonyms

abnormal, exceptional, extraordinary, odd, out-of-the-way, strange, unusual

Related Words

regular, typical, unextraordinary; familiar, homely, plain, plain-Jane, popular, vulgar; natural; customary, wonted; insignificant, trivial, unimportant; frequent, habitual; expected, predictable

Near Antonyms

curious, funny, peculiar, quaint, queer; aberrant, anomalous, atypical, irregular, untypical; rare, recherché, scarce; fantastic (also fantastical), phenomenal; bizarre, far-out, Kafkaesque, outrageous, outré, wacky (also whacky), way-out, weird, wild; eccentric, idiosyncratic, kooky (also kookie), nonconformist, oddball, offbeat, unconventional, unorthodox; freak, freakish; conspicuous, notable, novel, outstanding, prominent, salient, signal, striking, unexampled, unprecedented; singular, unique, unparalleled

STANDARD Defined for English Language Learners

standard

play

noun

Definition of standard for English Language Learners

: a level of quality, achievement, etc., that is considered acceptable or desirable
standards : ideas about morally correct and acceptable behavior
: something that is very good and that is used to make judgments about the quality of other things

standard

adjective

Definition of standard for English Language Learners

: regularly and widely used, seen, or accepted : not unusual or special
: generally accepted and used because of high quality or excellence
: accepted and used by most of the educated speakers and writers of a language

STANDARD Defined for Kids

standard

play

noun stan·dard \ ˈstan-dərd \

Definition of standard for Students

1 :something set up as a rule for measuring or as a model

a standard of weight

“There have to be standards. We can't have kids walking around saying ‘ain't’ …”
—Andrew Clements, Frindle

2 :the personal flag of the ruler of a state

3 :an upright support

a lamp standard

4 :a figure used as a symbol by an organized body of people

standard

adjective

Definition of standard for Students

1 :used as or matching a model or rule to compare against

standard weight

2 :regularly and widely used

It's a standard practice in the trade.

The script is standard … and so are the costumes …
—Barbara Robinson, Best Christmas Pageant

3 :widely known and accepted to be of good and permanent value

The book is a standard reference work on grammar.

Medical Dictionary

standard

play

noun stan·dard \ ˈstan-dərd \

medical Definition of standard

:something set up or established by an authority as a rule for the measure of quantity, weight, extent, value, or quality

standard

adjective

medical Definition of standard

:constituting or conforming to a standard especially as established by law or custom

standard weight

Law Dictionary

standard

noun stan·dard

legal Definition of standard

1 :something established by authority, custom, or general consent as a model, example, or point of reference

the standard of the reasonable person

2 :something established by authority as a rule for the measure of quantity, weight, extent, value, or quality

3 :the basis of value in a monetary system

Learn More about standard

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for standard Spanish Central: Translation of standard Nglish: Translation of standard for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of standard for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up standard? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

standard

Definition of standard

standardless

Explore M-W

Examples of standard in a Sentence

Recent Examples of standard from the Web

Origin and Etymology of standard

standard Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

Near Antonyms

Synonym Discussion of standard

Other Heraldry Terms

standard

Definition of standard

standardly

Examples of standard in a Sentence

Recent Examples of standard from the Web

First Known Use of standard

standard Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Related Words

Near Antonyms

Phrases Related to STANDARD

Related Phrases

STANDARD Defined for English Language Learners

standard

Definition of standard for English Language Learners

standard

Definition of standard for English Language Learners

STANDARD Defined for Kids

standard

Definition of standard for Students

standard

Definition of standard for Students

Medical Dictionary

standard

medical Definition of standard

standard

medical Definition of standard

Law Dictionary

standard

legal Definition of standard

Learn More about standard

Seen and Heard

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games

'So Long': A Common But Mysterious Goodbye

9 Slang Words With Academic Origins

Trending: 'Bodega' Startup Draws Criticism, Mockery

Challenging Vocabulary Quiz Returns!

Words of the Year: 1066