gold star

noun

1. a gold-colored star displayed, as on a service flag, to indicate that a member of one's family, organization, or the like, was killed in war as a member of the armed forces.
2. Informal.
   1. symbolic approval or recognition for outstanding merit or effort:

      You get the gold star for cooking such a gourmet dinner.

   2. anything that represents an outstanding effort or achievement:

      Her promotion was the gold star she'd been working for.

Other Words From

• gold-star adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of gold star¹

An Americanism dating back to 1920–25

Example Sentences

“I’ll give a gold star to whoever drafted the ordinance for creativity. This is some of the most tortured legal reasoning I have ever read,” she said during a council meeting early this month.

From Los Angeles Times

Former President Donald Trump, already facing criticism over an aide pushing aside an official at Arlington National Cemetery, has been caught misleading Gold Star families over troop deaths during his administration, according to a Washington Post analysis that gave him two Pinocchios.

From Salon

"We lost 13 great, great people, what a horrible day it was," Trump said in the video, with clips of him laying wreaths at soldiers' gravestones and talking to members of Gold Star families.

From Salon

The Trump campaign has disputed the cemetery's version of events and released a statement from the Gold Star military families that invited him to the site, saying the former president was there to honour the sacrifice of their relatives who were killed.

From BBC

At least one of the other grief-stricken Gold Star families expressed their strong displeasure with Trump’s misconduct.

From Salon

Related Words

• applaud
• approve
• compliment
• endorse
• extol
• hail
• laud