as in ladders
a scheme of rank or order
honesty sits at the top of my hierarchy of values
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Recent Examples of hierarchies
The liberal impulse — insistence that injustice isn’t cured by patience, willingness to reform systems that calcify into maladministration — can keep institutions from becoming the archives of old hierarchies.
—
Robert T.f. Downes, Hartford Courant, 6 Jan. 2026
With a plot reminiscent of Pride and Prejudice, Behind Five Willows explores what happens when a young woman from a poor family and a wealthy, respectable son of a noble decide to challenge government censorship and the strict social hierarchies that shape their lives.
—Caroline Carlson, Literary Hub, 2 Jan. 2026
True friendships don't operate on hierarchies, w where one person claims to want to help someone else, but really only seeks to feel better about themselves.
—wendy Wisner, Parents, 28 Dec. 2025
No broadcast delays, regional restrictions, or geographic hierarchies.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 17 Dec. 2025
Companies should start planning now for flatter hierarchies, fewer routine roles, and new career paths that reward orchestration and innovation over task execution.
—François Candelon, Fortune, 12 Dec. 2025
The messy truth that The Pitt exposes here is that despite advances in professionalism and training on how to treat patients and colleagues as people, these hierarchies, cultural rifts and gender dynamics still surface in health care.
—Emily Boss, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2025
Trump’s sinister achievement is to delegitimize the old intellectual and political establishment while at the same time cementing the racial hierarchies and regimes of repression that this elite exploited during the war on terror.
—Victor J. Blue, Harpers Magazine, 23 Nov. 2025
People who are rude or unaware with receptionists can poison your culture, create unnecessary hierarchies, and drive your best people to leave.
—Jessica Neal, CNBC, 5 Nov. 2025
Robert T.f. Downes, Hartford Courant, 6 Jan. 2026
With a plot reminiscent of Pride and Prejudice, Behind Five Willows explores what happens when a young woman from a poor family and a wealthy, respectable son of a noble decide to challenge government censorship and the strict social hierarchies that shape their lives.
—Caroline Carlson, Literary Hub, 2 Jan. 2026
True friendships don't operate on hierarchies, w where one person claims to want to help someone else, but really only seeks to feel better about themselves.
—wendy Wisner, Parents, 28 Dec. 2025
No broadcast delays, regional restrictions, or geographic hierarchies.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 17 Dec. 2025
Companies should start planning now for flatter hierarchies, fewer routine roles, and new career paths that reward orchestration and innovation over task execution.
—François Candelon, Fortune, 12 Dec. 2025
The messy truth that The Pitt exposes here is that despite advances in professionalism and training on how to treat patients and colleagues as people, these hierarchies, cultural rifts and gender dynamics still surface in health care.
—Emily Boss, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2025
Trump’s sinister achievement is to delegitimize the old intellectual and political establishment while at the same time cementing the racial hierarchies and regimes of repression that this elite exploited during the war on terror.
—Victor J. Blue, Harpers Magazine, 23 Nov. 2025
People who are rude or unaware with receptionists can poison your culture, create unnecessary hierarchies, and drive your best people to leave.
—Jessica Neal, CNBC, 5 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hierarchies
Noun
-
First responders brought ladders to help people off the train cars and predicted that the evacuation could take up to two hours.—
Matthew Rodriguez,
CBS News,
9 Jan. 2026
-
For Gen Z, that could mean inventing new career paths, blending skills across disciplines, or building opportunities rather than waiting for traditional ladders to reappear.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
From eye masks for red-eye flights to travel makeup bags, packing cubes, luggage scales, and more, these are the tools that keep overpacking (and overthinking) at bay.—
Chaise Sanders,
Travel + Leisure,
15 Jan. 2026
-
Charts use different vertical scales.—
Jessica Seaman,
Denver Post,
13 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The charges are in connection with incidents that allegedly occurred while Busfield was a director on the second season of the FOX series The Cleaning Lady, which aired in 2022.—
Daniel S. Levine,
PEOPLE,
15 Jan. 2026
-
Here are the 31 open spaces — and the reasons they were chosen — that were featured in this series from the people highlighted in 2025.—
Carlos Rico,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
15 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hierarchies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hierarchies. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.
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