seniority

/sinˈjɔrɪɾi/

/siˈnjɔrɪti/

Other forms: seniorities

Seniority refers to being ranked higher in an organization since you have been there longer. Who has seniority in a high school? The seniors of course!

You know how older people are called senior citizens or seniors? That should help you remember what seniority is: the longer someone stays within an organization, the more they have of it. A new worker has hardly any seniority. Someone working at a job for 20 years has a lot of seniority. Having seniority is like having a higher rank or status.

Definitions of seniority

1. noun

   higher rank than that of others especially by reason of longer service
   synonyms: higher rank, higher status, senior status

   type of:

   high status

   a position of superior status
2. noun

   the property of being long-lived
   synonyms: longevity

   type of:

   oldness

   the opposite of youngness