yardsticks

plural of yardstick
as in standards
something set up as an example against which others of the same type are compared this essay will be the yardstick by which I grade the others

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of yardsticks And according to my scorecard, which averaged grades across five economic yardsticks, Powell’s eight years at the helm earned the second-worst California-centric score compared with the previous four central bank bosses. Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 15 May 2026 Other yardsticks show a similar trend, such as a March 18 survey commissioned by the California Democratic Party showing the two GOP candidates on top with Swalwell, Porter and Steyer in a three-way tie for third. Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 27 Mar. 2026 The Red Scare period of blacklisting is a case study of the dangers of using political yardsticks to measure journalists. Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Mar. 2026 It is flanked on all sides by footlong rulers (emblazoned, like the yardsticks, with an assortment of penitent phrases including YES, SISTER and NO, SISTER) marking the hours. Alex Jovanovich, Artforum, 1 Jan. 2026 The gauge is based on short interest, margin debt, sentiment surveys and several other yardsticks used to gauge what investors are thinking and doing. Jeff Cox, CNBC, 17 Nov. 2025 In the matter of handmade placards—Magic Marker on cardboard, duct-taped to wooden yardsticks—there was a certain amount of politico-literary one-upmanship. Jill Lepore, New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2025 The machine learning field is moving fast, and the yardsticks used measure progress in it are having to race to keep up. Dina Genkina, IEEE Spectrum, 10 Sep. 2025 Traditional yardsticks like revenue and profit matter less than the company’s ETH stash. Trefis Team, Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for yardsticks
Noun
  • Its economy is struggling, public services are strained and improvements in living standards have slowed to a crawl in recent decades.
    Hanna Ziady, CNN Money, 18 July 2026
  • Lax safety standards and problems with overcrowding frequently result in accidents.
    ABC News, ABC News, 18 July 2026
Noun
  • However, on its website, Apax said the investment criteria for Apax Digital Funds range from $100 million to $300 million invested per partnership.
    Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 17 July 2026
  • The act was passed, followed in 1970 by the Clean Air Act establishing National Ambient Air Quality Standards for smog- and illness-inducing criteria air pollutants.
    Rebecca Florsheim, STAT, 17 July 2026
Noun
  • For all the public, open source repos where most of the benchmarks are run, every single model has basically memorized the repo.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 20 July 2026
  • The Kospi has become one of the world’s most volatile major benchmarks, with leveraged trading amplifying swings.
    Winnie Hsu, Fortune, 19 July 2026
Noun
  • When done well, this can create room for people to move up the value chain, but only if organizations intentionally redesign roles, performance metrics, and career paths around this new reality.
    Nigel Vaz, Time, 20 July 2026
  • Counting alone provides the metrics needed to create measurable ROI.
    TerDawn DeBoe, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Yardsticks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/yardsticks. Accessed 23 Jul. 2026.

More from Merriam-Webster on yardsticks

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster