as in standards
something set up as an example against which others of the same type are compared
a legendary Broadway flop that has subsequently become the barometer by which failure in the theater is judged
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Recent Examples of barometers
When personal narratives dominate the news cycle, social platforms act as real-time barometers for public curiosity.
—
Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 30 Jan. 2026
Part trade show, part cultural gathering, Pitti Uomo remains one of the clearest barometers of where men’s fashion is headed next.
—Brett F. Braley-Palko, Forbes.com, 18 Jan. 2026
Champions provide barometers, perhaps few like Oklahoma City, which threatens the league with a decade-long runway of contendership.
—Joel Lorenzi, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
With hundreds of millions of workers hunting for jobs and employers posting open roles in real time, LinkedIn acts as one of the clearest barometers of what’s actually happening on the ground—and its managing director for EMEA, Sue Duke, is not buying the AI apocalypse narrative.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 5 Dec. 2025
Why are both movies potential barometers for the future?
—Nancy Tartaglione, Deadline, 24 Nov. 2025
Kenny Chesney walks around office on the 72nd floor of One World Trade Center in New York City, peering out the floor-to-ceiling windows in search of his skyline barometers—the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge and one of his favorite places to perform, MetLife Stadium.
—Mandy Taheri, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
Airports really are barometers.
—Imran Khalid, Boston Herald, 27 Oct. 2025
Since the Academy expanded the best picture field in 2009, TIFF Audience Award winners have become reliable Oscar barometers.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 12 Sep. 2025
Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 30 Jan. 2026
Part trade show, part cultural gathering, Pitti Uomo remains one of the clearest barometers of where men’s fashion is headed next.
—Brett F. Braley-Palko, Forbes.com, 18 Jan. 2026
Champions provide barometers, perhaps few like Oklahoma City, which threatens the league with a decade-long runway of contendership.
—Joel Lorenzi, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
With hundreds of millions of workers hunting for jobs and employers posting open roles in real time, LinkedIn acts as one of the clearest barometers of what’s actually happening on the ground—and its managing director for EMEA, Sue Duke, is not buying the AI apocalypse narrative.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 5 Dec. 2025
Why are both movies potential barometers for the future?
—Nancy Tartaglione, Deadline, 24 Nov. 2025
Kenny Chesney walks around office on the 72nd floor of One World Trade Center in New York City, peering out the floor-to-ceiling windows in search of his skyline barometers—the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge and one of his favorite places to perform, MetLife Stadium.
—Mandy Taheri, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
Airports really are barometers.
—Imran Khalid, Boston Herald, 27 Oct. 2025
Since the Academy expanded the best picture field in 2009, TIFF Audience Award winners have become reliable Oscar barometers.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 12 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for barometers
Noun
-
The Department of Homeland Security has said that the facilities meet federal detention standards and undergo regular audits and inspections.—
Zoe Sottile,
CNN Money,
16 Feb. 2026
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Both the Times of London and the Daily Telegraph reviewed Newman’s book poorly, with an air of anti-woke ennui, accusing her of imposing contemporary moral standards on the vices of the past.—
Sam Knight,
New Yorker,
16 Feb. 2026
Noun
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American requests to use UK bases for operational purposes historically have been considered on a case-by-case basis, with precise criteria withheld for security reasons under long-standing agreements.—
Brad Lendon,
CNN Money,
20 Feb. 2026
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For each discipline, 13 countries were drawn, which then had 10 days to nominate judges who met required experience criteria.—
Lev Akabas,
Sportico.com,
20 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Other benchmarks were reduced, which could cause different problems, Worrell said.—
Camila Gomez,
The Orlando Sentinel,
19 Feb. 2026
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When voter registration statistics appear to exceed plausible eligible-population benchmarks, public confidence erodes, even if there is an administrative explanation.—
Reardon Sullivan,
Baltimore Sun,
19 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Prototype achieves high capacity and industrial-scale metrics At the core of the prototype is a conductive polymer known as poly(benzodifurandione), or PBFDO.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
21 Feb. 2026
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Owen Lamont, a portfolio manager at Acadian Asset Management and a former University of Chicago finance professor, told Fortune earlier this month that the current picture in markets qualifies as a bubble by three of his four bespoke metrics, with the only missing element being a flood of IPOs.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
20 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Barometers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barometers. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
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