as in levels
the placement of someone or something in relation to others in a vertical arrangement
jobs in the upper echelons of the company pay quite well indeed
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Recent Examples of echelons
Abughazaleh has risen to the upper echelons of fundraisers, in part due to a massive social media audience.
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Olivia Olander, Chicago Tribune, 7 Jan. 2026
The most plausible entrant may be a late-season episode of Strictly Come Dancing, which could creep into the lower echelons of the top 10.
—Jake Kanter, Deadline, 5 Jan. 2026
For years, Aspen has been revered as the ultimate mountain town escape — a hedonistic hub for the upper echelons of Hollywood and beyond.
—Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 23 Dec. 2025
The Lionel Messi-Lamine Yamal connection For believers in the soccer gods, Lamine Yamal's ascent to the upper echelons of the sport could almost seem predestined with Lamine anointed by a Barça icon — Lionel Messi.
—Nathalie Sommer, CBS News, 1 Dec. 2025
For more than two decades, New Zealand filmmaker Niki Caro has built a career that has swung between breakout indie success and the upper echelons of studio filmmaking.
—Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 19 Nov. 2025
The financier emailed often with people in the upper echelons of wealth around the world, brokering introductions and chatting about politics and foreign affairs.
—Jesse Bedayn, Fortune, 14 Nov. 2025
His passing, while not expected to immediately alter the balance of power—given his retirement from the Supreme People’s Assembly in 2019—underscores a generational shift in North Korea’s upper echelons.
—Hollie Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
Grey typically isn’t a colour associated with fun, but the background, lettering, stripe down the middle and sleeve design, have defied logic to propel the Raiders into the higher echelons of these rankings.
—Ajay Rose, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for echelons
Noun
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The blackout slashed internet access to a fraction of normal levels on the 13th day of the protests as rights groups, including Amensty International, accused the regime of using lethal force against protesters.—
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What's more, this door alarm features three sensitivity levels and emits a loud, shrill sound that will instantly scare an intruder away.—
Noun
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That's not to mention the lower ranks where teams like James Madison or Tulane might find their way into the 12-team field, only to get obliterated in the playoff and lose their coaches and half their players to Power Five schools along the way.—
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On Tuesday, Cuba released their names, ranks and ages.—
Noun
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The lawsuit alleges that for more than a decade, beginning at least as early as January 2015, Pepsi and Walmart used their dominant positions in the beverage and grocery markets to suppress price competition.—
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Hi Lab positions HyDee as a response to those challenges by eliminating charging delays associated with battery systems.—
Noun
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The tense encounters are happening at places like Target, Walmart and other private businesses.—
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This '90s sci-fi show dispatched a quartet of mismatched adventurers on a long-running series of adventures across parallel Earths — places where the Soviet Union rules the United States, or the Golden Gate Bridge is blue rather than orange.—
Cite this Entry
“Echelons.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/echelons. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
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