seniority

noun

se·​nior·​i·​ty sēn-ˈyȯr-ə-tē 

-ˈyär-

1

: the quality or state of being senior : priority

2

: a privileged status attained by length of continuous service (as in a company)

Examples of seniority in a Sentence

Promotions are based on merit and seniority.

a teacher with less seniority

He has worked here longer than I have, so he has seniority over me.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Alan Turing Institute commissioned a report into the gender job gap in AI in the United Kingdom, highlighting the extensive disparity between men and women in terms of their status, skills, pay and seniority in AI, as well as the attrition rate of those entering the industry. —Steve Taplin, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2025

The average pay and seniority for a housing specialist is around $44,000 and five years, respectively. —Lizzie Kane, Chicago Tribune, 25 Feb. 2025

For the last three weeks, Democrats up and down the seniority list have been stuck playing an especially frustrating game of Whac-a-Mole: smack the outrage of the hour and then race to hit the next one, never quite leveling the field. —Philip Elliott, TIME, 14 Feb. 2025

There’s always a bit of jockeying for position during media sit-downs, but this was probably less sinister, and more about seniority. —Elizabeth Stanton, Fox News, 11 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for seniority

• authority
• majority
• minority
• priority
• sonority
• sorority
• exteriority
• inferiority
• superiority

Kids Definition

seniority

noun

se·​nior·​i·​ty sēn-ˈyȯr-ət-ē 

-ˈyär-

1

: the quality or state of being senior

2

: a privileged position arrived at by length of service

Legal Definition

seniority

noun

se·​nior·​i·​ty sēn-ˈyȯr-ə-tē 

1

: the quality or state of being senior

2

: the senior status attained by length of continuous service (as in a company)

also : the length of such continuous service