hierarchical
adjective
Simple meaning
Classified according to different criteria into successive levels or layers.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
hyrahrkuhkuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
haɪˈɹɑɹkəkəl
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.
adjective
Classified according to various criteria into successive levels or layers
“It has been said that only a hierarchical society with a leisure class at the top can produce works of art.”
Classified or arranged according to various criteria into successive ranks or grades.
Pertaining to a hierarchy.
Of or pertaining to an ecclesiastic or priestly order.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Classified according to various criteria into successive levels or layers
Used this way, hierarchical is a common word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It quietly approves while staying precise.
“It has been said that only a hierarchical society with a leisure class at the top can produce works of art.”
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Successful and accomplished
- Usage feel
- Precise and approving
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use hierarchical
- “It has been said that only a hierarchical society with a leisure class at the top can produce works of art.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Pertaining
Classified
Other combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A series of ordered groupings of people or things within a system.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A classification system where entries are arranged based on some hierarchical structure.
A structure of data having several levels arranged in a treelike structure.
A secondary menu that appears while you are holding the cursor over an item on the primary menu.
A structure of data having several levels arranged in a treelike structure.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: classified according to various criteria into successive levels
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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.