How to Use hierarchical in a Sentence

hierarchical

adjective
Definition of hierarchicalnext
  • Yeah, and the idea of the hierarchical structure is gone.
    — Recode Staff, Recode, 11 May 2018
  • Not flat like the Earth, but flat as in not very hierarchical.
    — Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes, 6 July 2021
  • The community plan was based on the concept of hierarchical streets, laid out to the contours of the canyons and the hills.
    — Martina Schimitschek, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 June 2019
  • The tiers weren’t hierarchical; the idea was merely that categories might help the chaplains reach those who were most in need.
    — Elizabeth Barber, The New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2020
  • At the same time, the community is very hierarchical, which means those of us near the bottom must learn from those above.
    — Scott Gilbertson, WIRED, 28 Mar. 2023
  • Federal judges sit in a hierarchical system with the Supreme Court at the top.
    — Jack Goldsmith, The Atlantic, 12 Sep. 2017
  • They’re kind of often set up in a kind of hierarchical system.
    — Quartz Staff, Quartz, 2 May 2023
  • Consider a case where a boss was judged to be hierarchical.
    — Hylke Faber, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2024
  • Large funds tend to be more hierarchical, with a very traditional ladder to the top.
    — Heather Hartnett, Forbes, 19 Oct. 2021
  • Feudalism is a hierarchical system where the wealthy own land, while the poor farm said land in exchange for a place to live, as well as protection.
    — Carolyn Twersky, Seventeen, 7 Jan. 2019
  • The ocean liner is a hierarchical world, for both passengers and crew.
    — Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11 Apr. 2022
  • There was a hierarchical, violent pecking order like a prison or Lord of the Flies.
    — Mikey O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Oct. 2023
  • And there's sort of a hierarchical distinction based on where people are born.
    — Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 30 Nov. 2021
  • Health care should be a team process, not a hierarchical system that puts one discipline over all others.
    — WSJ, 4 Oct. 2020
  • But this movie is also dealing with [the idea that] any kind of hierarchical power structure that moves in any direction isn’t so great.
    — Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 3 July 2023
  • The relationship of the priest to his community is commonly viewed as hierarchical; the movement is from the above to the below.
    — Rabbi Avi Weiss, Sun Sentinel, 9 May 2022
  • Before the 1980s, banking was a sleepy, hierarchical business that played a minor role in the economy.
    — Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein, The New Republic, 6 Jan. 2020
  • His book was endorsed by two cardinals and three bishops, the mark of more senior-level approval in the hierarchical church.
    — Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Washington Post, 16 Sep. 2017
  • Democratize the field The panelists agreed that science can be too hierarchical and slow.
    — Alexandra Sifferlin, Time, 20 Mar. 2018
  • With lots of content, a pillar page creates a hierarchical map.
    — Karan Sharma, Forbes, 27 Sep. 2021
  • Nazis put eugenics in a bad light, and the WASPs shed it, at least publicly, but a hierarchical racial imaginary persisted.
    — Doug Henwood, Harper's magazine, 28 Oct. 2019
  • Over the course of the next few days, Shula will find herself in the midst of a traditional grieving ritual, hierarchical and surreal in its own way.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 26 May 2024
  • In the long run this can cause significant damage to the hierarchical structure of a company.
    — Ankur Modi, Forbes, 27 Sep. 2021
  • Job ladders do not work as well in less-hierarchical low-wage industries such as restaurants and retail.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 12 Nov. 2019
  • Yeah, their species is dependent on this kind of aid in a really strict hierarchical structure.
    — Quanta Magazine, 15 Feb. 2024
  • The restaurant world still harbors affection for the idea of cooks paying their dues, but the fetish for rigidly hierarchical and abusive workplaces seems to have abated in recent years.
    — Hannah Goldfield, The New Yorker, 17 June 2024
  • And the hierarchical structure of the church reinforces the idea that institutions are important tools for good.
    — Jayme Fraser, USA TODAY, 19 Oct. 2020
  • Since there’s no hierarchical structure, anyone who wants to help, contribute, or bring forth new ideas is encouraged to do so.
    — Afdhel Aziz, Forbes, 5 May 2021
  • Some packs are hierarchical and include alpha, beta, and omega pups.
    — Quispe López, Them, 26 July 2024
  • What about superhero movies, which depict a hierarchical world in which coteries of natural aristocrats battle to save the lowly populace?
    — Becca Rothfeld, Washington Post, 3 July 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hierarchical.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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