at best

phrase

: under the most favorable circumstances

won't be finished for another three months at best

At best, you will earn back what you paid in.

He's an average writer at best.

… was among the worst schools in a city whose public education could be described as struggling, at best.

—Ann Carrns

Examples of at best in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Disenfranchising or, at best, confusing their voters risks their own electoral success, too. — Sorelle Wyckoff Gaynor, The Conversation, 17 July 2026

For reasons that are, at best, hazy, Lonnie had a meltdown of some amorphous type that had some sort of non-specific impact on his overall psyche, leaving him stuck in a nebulous rut. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 16 July 2026

However, because the full constellation was just 36 operational satellites, Transit could only provide location-fixing services every hour or two at best whenever a satellite appeared over the horizon. — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 16 July 2026

Collecting bureaucrats’ signatures is at best a distraction from those efforts. — Editorial, Boston Herald, 16 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1556, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for at best

• abreast
• accessed
• addressed
• appressed
• armrest
• arrest
• assessed
• attest
• backrest
• behest
• bequest
• caressed