double standard

noun

1

: a set of principles that applies differently and usually more rigorously to one group of people or circumstances than to another

especially : a code of morals that applies more severe standards of sexual behavior to women than to men

2

: bimetallism

Examples of double standard in a Sentence

She argued that society applies a double standard in dealing with women who commit adultery.

Recent Examples on the Web

MacDougall questioned the wayward politics and the double standard that exist in Liberia but on a global scale. —Edna Bonhomme, Rolling Stone, 11 Mar. 2025

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin D. Roosevelt certainly were not expected to provide aid to Nazi Germany during WWII, yet there is a systematic double standard and misapplication of the law against the Jewish state. —William Lambers, Newsweek, 10 Mar. 2025

Sor Juana, Founding Mother of Mexican Literature Matthew Wills June 28, 2019 How a 17th-century nun wrote poetry, dramas, and comedies that took on the inequities and double standards women faced in society. —The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 3 Mar. 2025

Starting Next Week Major Lawsuits Against Trump And Musk: Judge Halts Trump’s DEI Contract Ban—For Now Rock dismissed another Meltzer report that there was a double standard in WWE which allows The Rock more leeway to curse on air. —Alfred Konuwa, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1872, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for double standard

• meandered
• nonstandard
• substandard
• slandered

Kids Definition

double standard

noun

: a set of standards that applies differently and usually more harshly to one group of people or circumstances than to another