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
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
Federal economic data is considered the gold standard because of its longstanding reliability, quality, comprehensiveness, history and transparency.
—Alicia Wallace, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2025
High schoolers’ reading and math scores dropped to the lowest level in decades, along with declines in science scores from eighth graders, according to the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), the gold standard exam for comparing student achievement over the years.
—Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill, 9 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for the gold standard
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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
Federal economic data is considered the gold standard because of its longstanding reliability, quality, comprehensiveness, history and transparency.
—Alicia Wallace, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2025
High schoolers’ reading and math scores dropped to the lowest level in decades, along with declines in science scores from eighth graders, according to the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), the gold standard exam for comparing student achievement over the years.
—Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill, 9 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for the gold standard
Cite this Entry
“The gold standard.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20gold%20standard. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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