Definition of sterling
1
:British money
2
:sterling silver or articles of it
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Examples of sterling in a Sentence
a drop in the value of sterling
Recent Examples of sterling from the Web
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The band has a sterling Northwest pedigree, its lineup including Scott McCaughey, one of R.E.M.’s touring guitarists, and Kurt Bloch, who played alongside McCaughey in Young Fresh Fellows.
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Images of esteemed professors with sterling résumés standing at Rio traffic intersections begging for money went viral on Brazilian social media.
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David Petraeus undermined a sterling and heroic service record — including building the smashing military success of the Surge — by mishandling classified information while engaging in a tawdry affair with a fawning biographer.
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Monday’s 6-4 loss to the Mariners was not exactly a sterling example of putting your best foot forward.
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But those who hoped Kelly, with his sterling military credentials, would be a moderating influence have been disappointed.
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Lugo is a sterling defensive third baseman with a solid bat who will join the club at Double-A, while Alcantara is an athletic shortstop.
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The Irish economy is already suffering from a post-referendum fall in sterling, which has hit Ireland’s agri-food business hard.
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This is the sterling work in the field, and their median projection is for a 23 percent loss in per capita earning globally by the end of this century (resulting from changes in agriculture, crime, storms, energy, mortality, and labor).
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sterling.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Definition of sterling
1 a
:of, relating to, or calculated in terms of British sterling
b
:payable in sterling
2 a
of silver
:having a fixed standard of purity usually defined legally as represented by an alloy of 925 parts of silver with 75 parts of copper
b
:made of sterling silver
3
:conforming to the highest standard
- sterling character
- a sterling record of achievement
—
sterlingly
adverb
—
sterlingness
nounExamples of sterling in a Sentence
a sterling example of democracy at work
credited the win to the pitcher's sterling performance on the mound
Recent Examples of sterling from the Web
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A sterling example of Native American warriors’ composure and commitment under pressure, the code talkers’ story is but a small piece of a much larger narrative.
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For McElwain’s team to maintain such a sterling home record will not be easy.
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Leo designs and fabricates sterling silver jewelry that integrates resin.
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Armed with his team’s sterling history of success at Toronto, Hildebrand looks primed to produce back-to-back top 10s for the first time this season.
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The ones we like are handcrafted from solid sterling silver and feature a center mother of pearl surrounded by a navy and orange glass enamel.
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Deals are first in sterling debt market since U.K. election Long tenor on AT&T bonds invite 20-year sterling exposure The pall of uncertainty hanging over the U.K. economy in the wake of last week’s election hasn’t shut the sterling bond market.
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Overall, director Patty Jenkins (who also made 2003’s Monster) has found sterling tools for this job.
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THINGS I’LL NEED FOR THE SEDUCTION OF STERLING ROCHAMBEAU.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sterling.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of sterling
15th century
sterling Synonyms
Synonyms
A-OK, A1, awesome, bang-up, banner, beautiful, blue-chip, blue-ribbon, boffo, bonny (also bonnie) [chiefly British], boss [slang], brag, brave, bully, bumper, capital, choice, classic, cool [slang], corking, crackerjack, cracking, dandy, divine, dope [slang], down [slang], dynamite, fab, fabulous, famous, fantabulous [slang], fantastic, fine, first-class, first-rate, first-string, five-star, four-star, frontline, gangbusters (also gangbuster), gilt-edged (or gilt-edge), gone [slang], grand, great, groovy, heavenly, high-class, hot, hype [slang], immense, jim-dandy, keen, lovely, marvelous (or marvellous), mean, neat, nifty, noble, number one (also No. 1), numero uno, out-of-sight [slang], par excellence, peachy, peachy keen, phat [slang], prime, primo [slang], prize, prizewinning, quality, radical [slang], righteous [slang], sensational, slick, splendid, stellar, excellent, superb, superior, superlative, supernal, swell, terrific, tip-top, top, top-flight, top-notch, top-of-the-line, topping [chiefly British], top-shelf, unsurpassed, wizard [chiefly British], wonderfulAntonyms
atrocious, awful, execrable, lousy, pathetic, poor, rotten, terrible, vile, wretchedRelated Words
acceptable, adequate, all right, decent, good, OK (or okay), passable, satisfactory, tolerable; better, exceptional, fancy, high-grade, high-test, premium, select, special, superfine; classical, standard, traditionalNear Antonyms
bad, inferior, low-grade, substandard, unsatisfactory; mediocre, middling, second-class, second-rateSTERLING Defined for English Language Learners
sterling
adjective
Definition of sterling for English Language Learners
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: made of silver that is 92 percent pure
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: very good
STERLING Defined for Kids
Definition of sterling for Students
1
:of or relating to British sterling
2
:being or made of a specific alloy that is mostly silver with a little copper
- sterling silver
3
:excellent
- a sterling example
Learn More about sterling
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See words that rhyme with sterling Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for sterling Spanish Central: Translation of sterling Nglish: Translation of sterling for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of sterling for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about sterling
Seen and Heard
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