as in pinnacle
the highest part or point
he hit the high-water mark of his acting career when he played Tiny Tim in a school play
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Recent Examples of high-water mark
The Weeknd reached a new high-water mark on Spotify this week.
—
Glenn Rowley, Billboard, 27 Feb. 2023
How San Francisco settles the debate could reverberate throughout the reparations movement, setting a high-water mark for an effort that has been criticized for, so far, producing small sums.
—Emmanuel Felton, Washington Post, 27 Feb. 2023
This year’s crop of competitors is a far cry from recent years when the starting roster has approached triple digits, hitting a high-water mark of 96 mushers in 2008 (though a more modest number, 78, crossed the finish line).
—Zachariah Hughes, Anchorage Daily News, 22 Feb. 2023
In Paso Robles, dozens of makeshift encampments sprang up along roadways, above the Salinas’ high-water mark.
—Jeremy Miller, WIRED, 18 Feb. 2023
See all Example Sentences for high-water mark 
Glenn Rowley, Billboard, 27 Feb. 2023
How San Francisco settles the debate could reverberate throughout the reparations movement, setting a high-water mark for an effort that has been criticized for, so far, producing small sums.
—Emmanuel Felton, Washington Post, 27 Feb. 2023
This year’s crop of competitors is a far cry from recent years when the starting roster has approached triple digits, hitting a high-water mark of 96 mushers in 2008 (though a more modest number, 78, crossed the finish line).
—Zachariah Hughes, Anchorage Daily News, 22 Feb. 2023
In Paso Robles, dozens of makeshift encampments sprang up along roadways, above the Salinas’ high-water mark.
—Jeremy Miller, WIRED, 18 Feb. 2023
See all Example Sentences for high-water mark
Recent Examples of Synonyms for high-water mark
Noun
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In some ways, saber teeth represent an evolutionary pinnacle, the optimal design for a canine tooth to puncture prey, says Rayfield.—
Jonathan Lambert,
NPR,
21 Jan. 2025
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For 2025, the VW Tiguan, which has been the company’s top selling model since it was redesigned in 2018 to align with the Atlas, serves as a pinnacle of all those ideas and then, takes them a step further with true luxury features and an even more elevated, refined style inside and out.—
Scotty Reiss,
Forbes,
20 Jan. 2025
Noun
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This year’s list lacks some of the sizzle of last year’s, even if several of the guys at the top of it ended up elsewhere.—
Joseph Person,
The Athletic,
23 Jan. 2025
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Unfortunately, as tends to happen with private-detective work, my quotidian marital investigation has inadvertently led me to uncover a larger conspiracy that goes all the way to the top.—
Graham Techler,
The New Yorker,
23 Jan. 2025
Noun
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John Ashton, the actor who reached a career zenith as detective John Taggart in the Beverly Hills Cop film franchise, died at his Fort Collins, Colorado home on Friday after a battle with cancer.—
Marc Berman,
Forbes,
29 Sep. 2024
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The best way to hold monoculars steady is to use two hands – one in front of the other – and use gravity when observing something at the zenith, allowing your eye socket to gently support their weight.—
Jamie Carter,
Space.com,
9 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Scores of other active projects would be discussed in other meetings, on other days—including museum spaces in Bilbao, Madrid, and San Diego, and a proposal for a tower in Riyadh that, at a height of two kilometres, would be more than twice as tall as any building ever built.—
Ian Parker,
The New Yorker,
20 Jan. 2025
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Quite frankly, Moicano is far from being at Makhachev’s lofty height.—
Brian Mazique,
Forbes,
20 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The 2 back-to-back January actions are the culmination of Biden Administration antitrust enforcement efforts to place far greater emphasis on potential harm to labor interests, in addition to the traditional antitrust concern with promoting consumer welfare.—
Alden Abbott,
Forbes,
17 Jan. 2025
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The video was inspired by the Resurrection City encampment that was the culmination of Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1968 Poor People’s Campaign and held on the National Mall that is steps away from the museum.—
Roger Catlin,
Smithsonian Magazine,
15 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Those turns on the throne have not been in a row, but rather spread across a number of years, as the smash surges back to the peak every holiday season.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes,
19 Jan. 2025
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Redfin says investor demand has dropped from the 2022 peaks, and in-migration has plunged by 79 percent compared to pandemic levels.—
David Faris,
Newsweek,
18 Jan. 2025
Noun
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If that moment, following a victory over the Green Bay Packers, was the apex of his season, Monday night’s performance was the bottom.—
Alec Lewis,
The Athletic,
14 Jan. 2025
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Mark King, reached the apex of their popularity with this album, which was a commercial smash in their native country.—
David Chiu,
Forbes,
9 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near high-water mark
Cite this Entry
“High-water mark.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/high-water%20mark. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
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