yardsticks

noun

plural of yardstick
as in standards
something set up as an example against which others of the same type are compared this essay will be the yardstick by which I grade the others

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of yardsticks The machine learning field is moving fast, and the yardsticks used measure progress in it are having to race to keep up. — Dina Genkina, IEEE Spectrum, 10 Sep. 2025 The gauge is based on short interest, margin debt, sentiment surveys and several other yardsticks used to gauge what investors are thinking and doing. — Jeff Cox, CNBC, 17 Nov. 2025 Traditional yardsticks like revenue and profit matter less than the company’s ETH stash. — Trefis Team, Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025 The Red Scare period of blacklisting is a case study of the dangers of using political yardsticks to measure journalists. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Mar. 2026 In the matter of handmade placards—Magic Marker on cardboard, duct-taped to wooden yardsticks—there was a certain amount of politico-literary one-upmanship. — Jill Lepore, New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2025 And according to my scorecard, which averaged grades across five economic yardsticks, Powell’s eight years at the helm earned the second-worst California-centric score compared with the previous four central bank bosses. — Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 15 May 2026 Other yardsticks show a similar trend, such as a March 18 survey commissioned by the California Democratic Party showing the two GOP candidates on top with Swalwell, Porter and Steyer in a three-way tie for third. — Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 27 Mar. 2026 It is flanked on all sides by footlong rulers (emblazoned, like the yardsticks, with an assortment of penitent phrases including YES, SISTER and NO, SISTER) marking the hours. — Alex Jovanovich, Artforum, 1 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for yardsticks
  1. standards
  2. criteria
  3. benchmarks
  4. metrics
Noun
  • The next step in the process involves the city drafting a redevelopment plan outlining development standards before holding public hearings and seeking additional approvals.
    — Teresa Mull, FOXNews.com, 5 July 2026
  • If an employer chooses to grant recognition, no election takes place, and the parties begin bargaining a contract that sets standards for wages, working conditions and benefits.
    — Talia Soglin, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026
Definition of standards
Noun
  • Critics say the test rewards the smallest slice of the problem while ignoring Scope 3, the 80% to 95% of a producer's emissions that come from burning its fuel, and note the criteria echo the oil industry's own lobbying.
    — Ingmar Rentzhog, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026
  • There are no particular criteria and it’s essentially all decided by whoever is chair of the AELTC at the time, which has been Debbie Jevans since 2023.
    — Nick Miller, New York Times, 4 July 2026
Definition of criteria
Noun
  • The current approach to AI mirrors the haphazard medical standards of the early 20th century, Bressman says, before medical schools, medical boards and other authorities agreed on national benchmarks for training and licensing.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 6 July 2026
  • Over time, colleges have steadily reduced the number of objective benchmarks available for comparing applicants while increasing the role of institutional judgment.
    — Scott White, Forbes.com, 5 July 2026
Definition of benchmarks
Noun
  • School climate information may reveal challenges that traditional performance metrics overlook.
    — Malana VanTyler, USA Today, 6 July 2026
  • The wellness science company Vibe Science is testing its Domayn Mask in a beta program, aiming to shift users toward calmer or more focused states rather than only reporting metrics.
    — Samantha Agate, Miami Herald, 6 July 2026
Definition of metrics

Browse Nearby Words

yardstick
yardsticks
yarn
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Yardsticks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/yardsticks. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on yardsticks

Nglish: Translation of yardsticks for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All