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

In fact, monetary policymaking that is data-driven and technocratic, rather than politically motivated, has since the early 1990s been seen as the gold standard of governance of national finances and has largely achieved its main purpose of keeping inflation relatively low and stable. —Ana Carolina Garriga, The Conversation, 26 Aug. 2025

There’s a reason why everyone from nurses to marathon runners upholds Hoka as the gold standard in comfy walking shoes. —Olivia Young, Travel + Leisure, 24 Aug. 2025

For every Mike Munchak, a man with a gold jacket who was the gold standard as an NFL offensive line coach, there is a Mike Singletary, who failed to make a smooth transition from the helmet to the headset. —Troy Renck, Denver Post, 20 Aug. 2025

Still, economists warn, the United States is at something of a crossroads now, waiting to see what happens to data series that economists have praised as the gold standard, even if many agree that model updating and modernization could make major improvements to the data’s accuracy. —Luciana Lopez, CNN Money, 18 Aug. 2025

Rhymes for the gold standard

• meandered
• nonstandard
• substandard
• slandered