supergrade

[ soo-per-greyd ]

noun

, U.S. Government.

1. a high-level rank, Grade 16, 17, or 18, in the federal civil service.
2. a government employee having such a rank.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of such a rank or employee.

Word History and Origins

Origin of supergrade¹

super- + grade

Example Sentences

So bright did Welch's star shine that his bosses in the Food and Drug Administration boosted him from chief of the Antibiotics Division, at $14,450 a year, to the supergrade rank of director, at $17,500.

From Time Magazine Archive