best

adjective

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\ 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 Baffert's War Emblem was the best of the bunch four years later in 2002, with jockey Victor Espinoza riding him to a convincing victory. — Lucas Aulbach, The Courier-Journal, "Bob Baffert's Derby record: A look at all seven of his Kentucky Derby winning horses," 2 May 2021 The all-night writing sessions were a fun challenge, and the office politics were the best. — Mike Sacks, The New Yorker, "John Swartzwelder, Sage of “The Simpsons”," 2 May 2021 Your best deal is to grab the Disney Bundle, which gets you access to Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu for just $13 (with ads). — Keith Phipps, Rolling Stone, "What to Watch on Disney+: New ‘Star Wars,’ Classic X-Men Films and Emma Stone’s ‘Cruella’," 2 May 2021 With a Bears organization that has rarely brought the best out of its quarterbacks. — Dan Wiederer, chicagotribune.com, "Justin Fields has star potential and already has changed the mood in Chicago. Can he alter the Bears’ wayward QB history?," 2 May 2021 Javonte Williams, the Broncos’ second-round pick, is the draft’s third-best tailback. — Omar Kelly, sun-sentinel.com, "Kelly: 2021 NFL draft winners and losers: What grade did Dolphins get? | Analysis," 2 May 2021 Being around my peers of the same race and striving to be the best has always pushed and motivated me. — Kevin L. Clark, Essence, "Gates Scholar Winner Akayla Brown is Bringing Her Talents to Howard University," 1 May 2021 However, the website said Barnes didn't have the quickest of feet, was a bit inconsistent diagnosing plays and wasn't the best at open-field tackling. — Kirkland Crawford, Detroit Free Press, "Derrick Barnes drafted by Detroit Lions: Went from two-star recruit to All-Big Ten player," 1 May 2021 All playoff series are also the best of seven games. — Cnn Editorial Research, CNN, "NBA and WNBA Finals Fast Facts," 30 Apr. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb Chevrolet continued to be Northern Ohio’s best-selling brand in March, selling 3,435 new vehicles, just ahead of Ford, which sold 3,313 vehicles in the month, the association said. — Alexis Oatman, cleveland, "Northeast Ohio car sales jump nearly 8% despite supply shortages amid pandemic," 3 May 2021 That’s an 11% discount on a best-selling model with 9,200 5-star ratings at Amazon! — Maren Estrada, BGR, "Amazon has a stunning 4K Roku TV with 2,000 5-star reviews for $360," 3 May 2021 Based on the best-selling booky by Neil Cross, the series follows an inventor (Justin Theroux, above, with Melissa George) who takes his family to Mexico while on the run from the government. — Anying Guo, Washington Post, "What to watch on Friday: ‘The Mosquito Coast’ on Apple TV Plus," 30 Apr. 2021 Check out Amazon’s best-selling container garden books. — oregonlive, "Sprinkler pots, grow bags and other garden containers great for a small yard, patio or balcony are on sale in time for spring planting," 30 Apr. 2021 Tara Westover's best-selling memoir chronicles the author's journey from being born into a survivalist camp in the mountains of Idaho, to earning her PhD from Cambridge University. — Tim Chan, Billboard, "Brandi Carlile Reveals Her Summer Reading List," 30 Apr. 2021 Instagram has disabled the account of Dr. Christiane Northrup, a best-selling author and prominent gynecologist, for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines, according to the social media platform’s parent company. — BostonGlobe.com, "Celebrity doctor in Maine blocked from Instagram over COVID-19, vaccine misinformation claims," 30 Apr. 2021 Over the course of nine books in the Grishaverse collection of novels, in addition to some short stories, there aren't many tales that author Leigh Bardugo wanted to tell but didn't in her best-selling YA fantasy series. — Nick Romano, EW.com, "Shadow and Bone cast discuss bringingyears of 'what if?' Grishaverse questions to the screen," 30 Apr. 2021 Despite the downward trend, the Civic was the eighth-best-selling vehicle in the U.S. last year, according to Cox Automotive, which owns Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader. — Nathan Bomey, USA TODAY, "Honda reveals redesigned Civic: Compact car boasts improved fuel economy," 29 Apr. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Lots of laughs, quality performances, some emotional moments, Tom Hanks at his comic best and a story from when baseball was heavily altered by world events like World War II. — Scott Venci, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Two sports writers drafted their favorite sports movies; who wound up with the better library?," 6 Apr. 2020 Her distances — 137 feet, 9 inches in the discus and 40-5¾ in the shot put — fell short of her personal bests (142-10 and 42-11). — David Hinojosa, ExpressNews.com, "Track and field preview: Southwest thrower Morgan Fey creates magic with discus, shot put," 11 Feb. 2020 White scored in double figures in points 16 times with season bests of 19 points coming twice, most notably against Colorado. — Michelle Gardner, azcentral, "Former ASU basketball standout Romello White transfers to Mississippi," 15 May 2020 Tilmon also competes in track and has personal bests of 15.99 in the 110-meter hurdles, 45.17 in the 300 hurdles and 40-8.5 in the triple jump. — Greg Riddle, Dallas News, "Mansfield Timberview three-star defensive lineman Terrell Tilmon commits to Oregon," 1 May 2020 Crossing the finish line — and setting a personal best — isn’t just a good race performance. — Washington Post, "My son survived Sandy Hook. It’s changed me as a parent.," 13 Dec. 2019 Best of the best State bests: Marin, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties ranked 1-2-3, respectively, among California’s 58 counties. — Tom Stienstra, SFChronicle.com, "California’s healthiest counties, ranked," 1 Mar. 2020 His previous best was 28 on April 10, 2019, while with Oklahoma City. — Pat Graham, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit Pistons' Rose, Wood score 20 points in loss at Denver Nuggets, 115-98," 26 Feb. 2020 Peterson set career bests with four catches and 63 yards in an otherwise miserable loss at Utah last October. — Michael Lev, azcentral, "Counting down the most valuable Arizona Wildcats for 2019 football season," 9 July 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Jesper manages to best the Heartrender, shooting him multiple times in the same spot, eventually bruising him through his bullet-proof kefta. — Olivia Truffaut-wong, refinery29.com, "R29 Recaps: Every Episode From Shadow and Bone Season 1," 27 Apr. 2021 Curry, going last, was the only one to best his score, putting up an incendiary 31 points. — Eric Walden, The Salt Lake Tribune, "Mike Conley makes long-awaited All-Star debut, while Utah Jazz teammate Donovan Mitchell impresses in Team Durant’s defeat," 7 Mar. 2021 Democrats are aware of that history and built an unprecedented turnout operation for these runoffs, hoping to best the Republicans’ own aggressive effort. — Cameron Mcwhirter, WSJ, "Georgians Vote in Runoff Races That Will Determine Senate Control," 5 Jan. 2021 How will the Steelers’ offense try to best the Browns’ defense? — Ellis L. Williams, cleveland, "Browns jump to 10-point favorite vs. Pittsburgh Steelers after Mason Rudolph named starter," 29 Dec. 2020 One of the nation’s more accurate pollsters is bullish on Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s chances to win her runoff race against Raphael Warnock but less confident that Sen. David Perdue will best Jon Ossoff. — Michael Lee, Washington Examiner, "Pollster predicts Loeffler victory but is less confident on Perdue's chances," 25 Dec. 2020 What does the Democratic Party need to do to best support the organizers and groups that worked to fuel Black voter turnout in key states? — NBC News, "Alicia Garza on 'defunding the police,' Biden and what's next for Black Americans," 10 Dec. 2020 She’s a nasty piece of work to be sure, but Ahsoka manages to best her in a thrilling action sequence which culminates in a lightsaber vs. Beskar spear duel. — Will Thorne, chicagotribune.com, "Baby Yoda’s big reveal and 4 other updates from ‘The Mandalorian’," 27 Nov. 2020 At 28 years, 162 games, that would best the current record held by Fitzgerald, who nabbed his 700th reception at 29 years, 23 days. — Bob Mcmanaman, The Arizona Republic, "DeAndre Hopkins, Stefon Diggs expected to lead WR fireworks show when Cardinals face Bills," 14 Nov. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Auxiliary verb Jesper manages to best the Heartrender, shooting him multiple times in the same spot, eventually bruising him through his bullet-proof kefta. — Olivia Truffaut-wong, refinery29.com, "R29 Recaps: Every Episode From Shadow and Bone Season 1," 27 Apr. 2021 Curry, going last, was the only one to best his score, putting up an incendiary 31 points. — Eric Walden, The Salt Lake Tribune, "Mike Conley makes long-awaited All-Star debut, while Utah Jazz teammate Donovan Mitchell impresses in Team Durant’s defeat," 7 Mar. 2021 Democrats are aware of that history and built an unprecedented turnout operation for these runoffs, hoping to best the Republicans’ own aggressive effort. — Cameron Mcwhirter, WSJ, "Georgians Vote in Runoff Races That Will Determine Senate Control," 5 Jan. 2021 How will the Steelers’ offense try to best the Browns’ defense? — Ellis L. Williams, cleveland, "Browns jump to 10-point favorite vs. Pittsburgh Steelers after Mason Rudolph named starter," 29 Dec. 2020 One of the nation’s more accurate pollsters is bullish on Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s chances to win her runoff race against Raphael Warnock but less confident that Sen. David Perdue will best Jon Ossoff. — Michael Lee, Washington Examiner, "Pollster predicts Loeffler victory but is less confident on Perdue's chances," 25 Dec. 2020 What does the Democratic Party need to do to best support the organizers and groups that worked to fuel Black voter turnout in key states? — NBC News, "Alicia Garza on 'defunding the police,' Biden and what's next for Black Americans," 10 Dec. 2020 She’s a nasty piece of work to be sure, but Ahsoka manages to best her in a thrilling action sequence which culminates in a lightsaber vs. Beskar spear duel. — Will Thorne, chicagotribune.com, "Baby Yoda’s big reveal and 4 other updates from ‘The Mandalorian’," 27 Nov. 2020 At 28 years, 162 games, that would best the current record held by Fitzgerald, who nabbed his 700th reception at 29 years, 23 days. — Bob Mcmanaman, The Arizona Republic, "DeAndre Hopkins, Stefon Diggs expected to lead WR fireworks show when Cardinals face Bills," 14 Nov. 2020

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.