the gold standard

noun

1

: a system in which a unit of money (such as the dollar) is equal to a particular amount of gold

The United States was still on the gold standard in the early 20th century.

2

: something that is considered to be the best and that is used to judge the quality or level of other, similar things

This car is the gold standard for luxury automobiles.

the gold standard of stylish resorts

Examples of the gold standard in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Peer review is often taken to be the gold standard for science, where if a scientific paper can pass peer review, that means it’s been reviewed by editors and referees to be correct, and that others vouch for it. —Ethan Siegel, Big Think, 19 Sep. 2025

Systematic reviews are the gold standard for evaluating medical evidence—the safety net for modern medicine. —Anna Forsythe, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025

Lilly's shot is the gold standard in terms of efficacy, Skovronsky said. —Angelica Peebles, CNBC, 12 Sep. 2025

But her brother George, on the other hand, did go to college, to Harvard, in fact, the gold standard in the Glessner family. —Katie Hafner, Scientific American, 10 Sep. 2025

Rhymes for the gold standard

• meandered
• nonstandard
• substandard
• slandered