hierarchy
noun OPAL W
/ˈhaɪərɑːki/
/ˈhaɪərɑːrki/
(plural hierarchies)
- [countable, uncountable] a system, especially in a society or an organization, in which people are organized into different levels of importance from highest to lowest
- the social/political hierarchy
- She's quite high up in the management hierarchy.
Extra Examples- He joined the party in 1966 and quickly moved up the hierarchy.
- She is above me in the hierarchy.
- There was a clear hierarchy of power in the company.
- At the bottom of the corporate hierarchy are part-time low-paid workers.
- In most large families there is a hierarchy of age, with the older siblings having more status.
- Why does there need to be such a strict hierarchy within the church?
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- complex
- rigid
- strict
- …
- create
- develop
- establish
- …
- be based on something
- in a/the hierarchy
- within a/the hierarchy
- hierarchy of
- …
- somebody’s level, position, status, etc. in a hierarchy
- [countable + singular or plural verb] the group of people in control of a large organization or institution
- It was on orders from the party hierarchy that she dropped the investigation.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- complex
- rigid
- strict
- …
- create
- develop
- establish
- …
- be based on something
- in a/the hierarchy
- within a/the hierarchy
- hierarchy of
- …
- somebody’s level, position, status, etc. in a hierarchy
- [countable] (formal) a system that ideas or beliefs can be arranged into according to their importance
- a hierarchy of needs
Word Originlate Middle English: via Old French and medieval Latin from Greek hierarkhia, from hierarkhēs ‘sacred ruler’, from hieros ‘sacred’ + arkhēs ‘ruler’. The earliest sense was ‘system of orders of angels and heavenly beings’; the other senses date from the 17th cent.