world-class

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɜː(ɹ)ldˈklæs/, /wɜː(ɹ)ldˈklɑːs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æs, -ɑːs

Adjective

world-class (comparative more world-class, superlative most world-class)

1. Of a standard that ranks among the best in the world.
   • 2022 November 30, Nick Brodrick, “Pride and innovation shine at St Pancras”, in RAIL, number 971, page 69:

     Chris Green remarks that this "world-class gateway to London and the UK still looks as good as new", [...].

2. (informal) Extraordinary in degree.

   A world-class idiot

   • 2004, Intelligent Systems, translated by Nintendo of America, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Nintendo, GameCube, level/area: Boggly Woods:

     Both of you, prepare for a world-class punishment session when we get home!

   • 2025 December 12, Robert Klose, “More than I bargained for: My failed adventures in haggling”, in The Christian Science Monitor‎, archived from the original on 12 December 2025:

     My father was a world-class dickerer.

Derived terms

• worldie
• worldy

Translations

of a standard that ranks among the best in the world

Bulgarian: от световна класа (ot svetovna klasa) Chinese: Mandarin: 世界級 / 世界级 (zh) (shìjièjí), 世界級 / 世界级 (zh) (shìjièjí) Danish: i verdensklasse Esperanto: internacinivela Finnish: maailmanluokan French: de classe mondiale, de classe internationale, parmi les meilleurs du monde German: Weltklasse-; for example Weltklasseathlet (de) m Greek: παγκόσμιας θέσης (pagkósmias thésis), παγκόσμιας φήμης (pagkósmias fímis) Italian: classe mondiale, migliori al mondo Norwegian: Bokmål: i verdensklasse Portuguese: please add this translation if you can Spanish: clase mundial f Swedish: i världsklass (sv)