pecking order
Barnyard dominance system
Pecking order is the hierarchy of dominance in a group—who defers to whom.
The term comes from the social ranking among chickens, where dominant birds peck subordinates.
It extends to any organization with informal rankings: She quickly learned the pecking order in the new office.
The phrase implies status is enforced through small acts of assertion and submission rather than formal authority.
Position in hierarchy
- statusOne's relative position
- positionLocation or stance
- ladderPortable climbing frame
- tierHorizontal structural layer
chain of command · structure · stratification · echelon · caste · class · level · pyramid
Rank increase or publicity
- seniorityRank from length of service
- chain of commandFormal authority hierarchy
- managementOrganizing and directing resources
- executiveSenior organizational leader
intern · entry-level · supervisor · corner office · org chart · tenure · advancement · bureaucracy
First Greek letter
- top dogDominant leader
- bossWorkplace superior
- leaderOne who guides others
- subordinateOne lower in rank
underling · dominance · submission · power · control · authority · assertiveness · intimidation
rank
Position in hierarchy
tier · chain of command · structure · stratification · echelon · caste · class · level · pyramid · totem pole
promotion
Rank increase or publicity
- seniorityRank from length of service
- chain of commandFormal authority hierarchy
- managementOrganizing and directing resources
executive · intern · entry-level · supervisor · corner office · org chart · tenure · advancement · bureaucracy · middle management
alpha
First Greek letter
subordinate · underling · dominance · submission · power · control · authority · assertiveness · intimidation · territorial
- bird expressionsearly bird, birdbrain, bird brain, lovebirds, jailbird
- farm idiomsmake hay while the sun shines, cream of the crop, put the cart before the horse, till the cows come home, buy the farm
- hierarchiestier, tiers, level, levels, rank
- hierarchyrank, ranked, authority, command, tiered
- rankingsrankings, first, college rankings, second, third
- ranksrank and file, enlisted ranks, tier one, officer rank, tier two
pecking orderequality
Same status for all
egalitarianism · level playing field · classless society · equal footing · parity
pecking orderfluidity
State of flowing freely
social mobility · disorder · chaos · free-for-all · anarchy
peck, pecked, woodpecker, pecking, pecks, peckish, pecker, peckers, peckishness