benchmark
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A standard by which something can be measured or judged.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
behnchmahrkSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɛntʃmɑɹk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A standard by which something can be measured or judged
“His painting sets the benchmark of quality.”
A standard by which something is evaluated or measured.
A surveyor's mark on a permanent object of predetermined position and elevation used as a reference point
A surveyor's mark made on some stationary object and shown on a map; used as a reference point.
computing
A computer program that is executed to assess the performance of the runtime environment.
verb
transitive
To measure the performance or quality of (an item) relative to another similar item in an impartial scientific manner.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A standard by which something can be measured or judged
Used this way, benchmark is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“His painting sets the benchmark of quality.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “benchmark of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: benchmark of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use benchmark
- “His painting sets the benchmark of quality.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: standard by which something can be measured
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.