lowest common denominator

noun

|Updated on: 27 Jun 2018

Definition of lowest common denominator

1 : least common denominator

2 : something of small intellectual content designed to appeal to a lowbrow audience; also : such an audience

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Recent Examples of lowest common denominator from the Web

Father and son both dislike the lowest common denominator of … anything, including beer.

— lauren delgado, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Orange Blossom Pilsner gets Inoculated in father, son collaboration," 13 June 2018
And then, there’s the opposing view, that Fall Out Boy’s music is the lowest common denominator of rock music, close enough to pop and EDM to chart in the Top 40, yet too toothless to have any real identity.

— maeve mcdermott, USA TODAY, "Review: Fall Out Boy's 'Mania' is an unholy mess," 19 Jan. 2018

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

First Known Use of lowest common denominator

1854

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR Defined for English Language Learners

lowest common denominator

noun

Definition of lowest common denominator for English Language Learners

mathematics : the smallest number that can be divided exactly by all the numbers below the lines in a group of two or more fractions
—used to say that the quality of something is poor because it is designed or intended to appeal to the largest possible number of people