Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

pecking order

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.88 in modern English

Syllables
peck-ing order
IPA
22
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
2
Syllables
10
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The natural ranking of social status and dominance occurring in a group of birds.

noun

The usually informal hierarchy of authority, command, or social status, as determined by the especially natural propensity for domination of different members of a specific group over each other, such as older brothers and sisters over their younger siblings.

Etymology

Calque of German Hackordnung.

Inflected Forms

pecking orders (plural)

Phrases

social climbing social ladder

Frequently Paired Words

exclusivity snobbery social climbing social ladder

Synonyms

hierarchy power structure

Antonyms

equality

Questions

What does pecking order mean?
The natural ranking of social status and dominance occurring in a group of birds.
Where does pecking order come from?
Calque of German Hackordnung.

How to pronounce pecking order

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “pecking order”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “pecking order”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “pecking order” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.