hierarchy · noun
Meanings and examples
A system in which people or things are arranged in levels of authority or importance.
The organisation reduced its hierarchy so that practical decisions could be made closer to the people affected.
New employees often need time to understand the informal hierarchy behind the official list of job titles.
The diagram presents a hierarchy of needs, placing the most immediate requirements at its base.
A rigid hierarchy can discourage useful questions when junior staff assume that senior colleagues must always be right.
Forms
- hierarchy singular
- hierarchies plural