best

adjective

\ ˈbest

Definition of best

(Entry 1 of 6)

superlative of good

1 : excelling all others the best student in the class

2 : most productive of good : offering or producing the greatest advantage, utility, or satisfaction What is the best thing to do?

3 : most, largest It rained for the best part of their vacation.

best

adverb

Definition of best (Entry 2 of 6)

superlative of well

1 : in the best (see best entry 1) way : to greatest advantage Some things are best left unsaid.

2 : most Those best able will provide needed support.

as best

: as well, skillfully, or accurately as Try to do it as best you can.

best

noun

plural best

Definition of best (Entry 3 of 6)

1 : the best (see best entry 1) state or part You haven't heard the best of it.

2 : one that is best the best falls short saved the best for last

3 : the greatest degree of good or excellence He's at his best in front of a live audience. democracy at its best

4a : one's maximum effort do your best

b : a best performance or achievement ran a new personal best

5 : best clothes wearing their Sunday best

at best

: 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

get the best of

: to overcome or outdo (someone or something) : to get the better of The hero got the best of the villain in the end. I let my emotions get the best of me and said something I regret. Let's face it: As much as we like to eat healthy, the old sweet tooth sometimes gets the best of us.— Denise I. O'Neal

best

verb

bested; besting; bests

Definition of best (Entry 4 of 6)

transitive verb

: to get the better of : outdo bested by their opponents

best

auxiliary verb

Definition of best (Entry 5 of 6)

: had best (see best entry 2 sense 1) you best listen

Best

biographical name

\ ˈbest

Definition of Best (Entry 6 of 6)

Charles Herbert 1899–1978 Canadian (American-born) physiologist

Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about best

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Examples of best in a Sentence

Adjective

You should wear your best clothes tonight. We ate the best food and drank the best wines. His modesty and sense of humor are his best qualities. Is that your best offer? Which of these do you think tastes best? Mary sends you her very best wishes. She's the best student in her class. He won the award for best actor in a drama. She truly believes that this is the best way to solve the problem. She's the team's best hope for a medal.

Adverb

The sauce is best served cold. They work best under pressure. That's what we do best! We need to think about how best to fix this problem. The work should be done by the people who are best able to do it. She's best suited to life in the city. He is best known for his invention of the lightbulb. The museum features some of the best-known examples of this style of painting.

Noun

Out of all of my workers, he's the best. Our company is the best in the business. Thanks, Dad. You're the best! I have one more gift for you, and I saved the best for last. Bad things happen to the best of us. They want the best for their children. Even in the best of times, we had trouble paying our bills. In the best of all possible worlds, no one would be without food and clean water. I have a wonderful family and a great job, so I feel that I have the best of both worlds. He did his best to help them.

Verb

at last she's bested her card-playing mother at the game of hearts

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Van Straubenzee and his brother Thomas were also ushers at Meghan and Harry's wedding, and Harry will reportedly be serving as best man on Saturday. — Krystin Arneson, Glamour, "Happy Birthday, Meghan Markle: Inside Her First Birthday as a Royal," 4 Aug. 2018 If Harry and best man Prince William share a cute exchange, refill your champagne flute and down it. — Ruth Kinane, EW.com, "Toast Meghan Markle and Prince Harry with EW's official royal wedding drinking game," 18 May 2018 While Harry has the support of his grandmother, father and brother (who will serve as best man), the groom-to-be is also involving family of his late mother, Princess Diana. — Erin Hill, ajc, "Prince Harry still hasn’t met Meghan Markle’s dad. When will he?," 4 May 2018 Prince William will be serving as best man during his only brother’s wedding, so he has been invited. — Lisa Ryan, The Cut, "The Ultimate Guide to the Royal Wedding Invite List," 2 May 2018 Downs Gunn's 8-year-old son gave his mother away and acted as best man, People said. — Greg Garrison, AL.com, "Former Miss America Deidre Downs marries girlfriend at Birmingham Museum of Art," 16 Apr. 2018 The viewing rooms can be combined into a larger room where Guardian plans to host meetings among museum curators to discuss such topics as best practices for preserving art. — Tom Daykin, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Milwaukee's Menomonee Valley lands unusual development: High-tech fine art storage center," 19 Jan. 2018 Their advice and best practices will stretch your assessment dollars and build a more financially stable association. — Pamela Dittmer Mckuen, chicagotribune.com, "As summer comes to a close, community associations consider budgets," 22 Aug. 2017 Many women out there are perhaps not looking for more best friends. — Jennifer Wright, Harper's BAZAAR, "The "Feud" Between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton Just Reinforces Gender Stereotypes," 6 Dec. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb

Airbus and Boeing have already announced plans to boost output of their best-selling single-aisle jets this year. — Robert Wall, WSJ, "Boeing, Airbus Miss 2018 Jet Delivery Targets," 8 Jan. 2019 But the Duchess effect is already in full-swing: the best-selling accessory is currently sold out. — Jenna Rosenstein, Harper's BAZAAR, "The Internet Is Divided Over Nicole Kidman's Hair Bow at the Golden Globes," 7 Jan. 2019 According to Deadline, the classic 2004 tearjerker (based on the best-selling 1996 Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name) is officially Broadway-bound. — De Elizabeth, Teen Vogue, "Nicholas Sparks's "The Notebook" Is Headed to Broadway," 6 Jan. 2019 Her memoir, Becoming—which tells the story of her life beginning on the south side of Chicago and through her eight years in the White House—is the best-selling book of the year. — Abby Gardner, Glamour, "Michelle Obama Is America's 'Most Admired Woman' of 2018," 28 Dec. 2018 The Orolay Thicken Down Jacket has racked up over 5,ooo reviews with an average 4.3 rating making it the best-selling item in the Women's Down Jackets & Parkas category. — Lindsey Murray, Good Housekeeping, "Reading the Amazon Reviews on This Crazy-Popular Winter Coat Will Make You Want One ASAP," 13 Dec. 2018 The actor has signed on as the executive producer of a new series, Prey, based on the best-selling novels by John Sandford, according to The Hollywood Reporter. — Megan Stein, Country Living, "Is Mark Harmon Leaving 'NCIS'?," 27 Nov. 2018 In the meantime, Bredesen, the UCLA neurology professor, has been touring around the country, promoting his program through his best-selling book, The End of Alzheimer’s, and giving lectures at scientific conferences and talks to community groups. — Linda Marsa, Discover Magazine, "A New Treatment for Alzheimer's? It Starts With Lifestyle," 16 Nov. 2018 Why this matters: Raspberry Pi has grown from a niche enthusiast company to one of the best-selling PC’s of all time. — Michael Simon, PCWorld, "A new Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ has arrived with Bluetooth 4.2 and dual-band Wi-Fi for $25," 15 Nov. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Frei enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career, finishing second to Zack Steffen in Goalkeeper of the Year voting and posting career bests in goals against average (1.03) and saves with 114, a franchise record. — Seattle Times Staff, The Seattle Times, "Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei had ‘save of the year’," 13 Nov. 2018 Today, various members of the royal family put on their festive best and headed to Buckingham Palace for Queen Elizabeth’s annual Christmas lunch. — Elise Taylor, Vogue, "Inside the Queen’s Annual Christmas Lunch at Buckingham Palace," 19 Dec. 2018 Similar graphs were produced when second-best and third-best works were compared and when the best and third-best were compared. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Creative types all go through hot streaks of superior production," 11 July 2018 With All-Star Kawhi Leonard sidelined for all but nine games with a quadriceps injury, Anderson started 67 games while averaging career bests in points (7.9), rebounds (5.4), assists (2.7) and steals (1.6). — Tom Orsborn, San Antonio Express-News, "Anderson signs offer sheet with Grizzlies," 6 July 2018 Both Burns and Ginn’s times at sectionals were personal-bests — Burns exceeded his previous low time by almost four seconds. — Steve Reaven, chicagotribune.com, "Boys track notes: Barrington's depth shows in its many state qualifiers," 22 May 2018 Sailors junior Ayla Spitz put on a show, setting meet records and personal-bests in winning the girls' 200 freestyle (1:45.44) and the 100 free (48.88). — Matt Szabo, latimes.com, "Locals swim fast, but Los Alamitos sweeps Sunset League finals," 5 May 2018 Feel free to share your bests and worsts of the fest in the comment section. — Michael Rietmulder, The Seattle Times, "The best and worst of Bumbershoot 2018," 3 Sep. 2018 His bests are 315 pounds on the the bench (there is a pause once the bar hits the chest), 555 in the squat and 651 in the dead. — Richard Obert, azcentral, "After 2 football ACL tears, Casteel's Luke Musselman finds records in powerlifting," 5 July 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Ohashi is one of the last gymnasts to have bested Simone Biles in a major competition. — Jenny Mccoy, SELF, "5 Things to Know About Katelyn Ohashi, the UCLA Gymnast Whose Floor Routine Just Went Viral," 15 Jan. 2019 And in the episode’s climactic scene, Enzo Scanno (also bested by Lila in the school contest) and his friends hurl stones at Lila, knocking her over and bloodying her head. — Anna North, Vox, "My Brilliant Friend pulls back the curtain on women’s lives. What it reveals is dark and violent.," 20 Nov. 2018 Bloomberg reports that the major car makers in Germany have been reluctant to commit massive amounts of money to building electric-vehicle battery cells competitively when Chinese firms might best them. — Megan Geuss, Ars Technica, "Chinese firm will build battery factory in Germany to supply BMW, Volkswagen," 9 July 2018 There was also a new record set in the mixed 15-18 freestyle 200M relay team, which consisted of Claire O’Shaughnessy, Ryan Harding, Bella Whittaker and Paul Finegan, who posted a time of 1:47.57 to best the previous record set last summer. — Tim Schwartz, Howard County Times, "West Howard, Hammond Park win Central Maryland Swim League meets," 4 July 2018 McEwen recorded his first national NHRA event victory in 1973, besting the Funny Car field at the SuperNationals at California's Ontario Motor Speedway. — Ellen J. Horrow, USA TODAY, "Legendary drag racer Tom 'The Mongoose' McEwen dies at 81," 11 June 2018 The 39-year-old righthander bested a large and high-quality field in the event held Saturday in a back alley in Indianapolis' Meridian-Kessler neighborhood. — Will Higgins, Indianapolis Star, "Those athletic Isenbargers: A Rose Bowl, an NCAA championship, and now a Linear Bocce title," 7 May 2018 Farrar still delivered the second-fastest 50 free time in state history, with a 20.47 besting the field by a healthy three-tenths of a second. — Jr Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Lucas Farrar doesn't get the record he wanted, but he finishes season undefeated with two gold medals around his neck," 19 Feb. 2018 Why Go NowThe gorgeously sun-bleached, 58-villa Six Senses Ninh Van Bay has been quietly besting the competition for years, luring a chic yet low-key clientele that’s a world apart from the boozy bacchanal of Nha Trang itself. — Peter Jon Lindberg, Condé Nast Traveler, "How to Take Your Vietnam Trip to the Next Level," 20 Nov. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Auxiliary verb

Whoever wins will face the Cleveland Cavaliers for all the marbles, with LeBron James & co. having bested the Boston Celtics on Sunday night. — Editors, USA TODAY, "Memorial Day, National Burger Day and NBA Finals: 5 things you need to know Monday," 28 May 2018 To put it another way, Mr. McConnell has bested Mr. Schumer at almost every turn. — William Mcgurn, WSJ, "Chuck Schumer, Foiled Again," 12 Nov. 2018 Nigeria have bested the Argentines twice in friendly fixtures though, scoring four goals on both occasions. — SI.com, "World Cup Preview: Nigeria vs Argentina - Recent Form, Previous Encounters, Predictions & More," 25 June 2018 Tipirneni had bested Lesko in fundraising, piling up $734,937 for the race. — David Weigel, Washington Post, "Arizona voters to pick new member of Congress to replace Trent Franks," 24 Apr. 2018 But on Sunday, the hottest squad won that battle, besting the Storm behind 17 points from Elizabeth Williams and 16 from both Angel McCoughtry and Tiffany Hayes to earn a franchise-best seventh straight win. — Evan Webeck, The Seattle Times, "Seattle’s Sue Bird leads the WNBA with 500 games played. Here’s a look back at her milestone games," 24 July 2018 McEwen recorded his first national NHRA event victory in 1973, besting the Funny Car field at the SuperNationals at California's Ontario Motor Speedway. — Ellen J. Horrow, USA TODAY, "Legendary drag racer Tom 'The Mongoose' McEwen dies at 81," 11 June 2018 Young won the 2016 Republican primary with 71.5 percent of the vote, besting Stephen Wright (18.7 percent), Gerald Heikes (5.2 percent) and Jesse Tingley (4.6 percent). — Erica Martinson, Anchorage Daily News, "Here are the people challenging Don Young for Alaska’s sole congressional seat," 9 June 2018 Commissioner Nick Fish won re-election to the Portland City Council on Tuesday, besting three candidates who sought his ouster. — Gordon R. Friedman, OregonLive.com, "Nick Fish wins re-election to Portland City Council," 15 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'best.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.