Hamilton Basso
Can most be used in place of almost?: Usage Guide
Although considered by some to be unacceptable in all cases, most is often used to mean "almost" in both spoken and, to a lesser extent, written English to modify the adjectives all, every, and any; the pronouns all, everyone, everything, everybody, anyone, anything, and anybody; and the adverbs everywhere, anywhere, and always. Other uses of this sense of most are dialectal.
Synonyms
Adjective
Adverb (1)
- achingly
- almighty
- archly
- awful
- awfully
- badly
- beastly
- blisteringly
- bone
- colossally
- corking
- cracking
- damn
- damned
- dang
- deadly
- desperately
- eminently
- enormously
- especially
- ever
- exceedingly
- exceeding
- extra
- extremely
- fabulously
- fantastically
- far
- fiercely
- filthy
- frightfully
- full
- greatly
- heavily
- highly
- hugely
- immensely
- incredibly
- intensely
- jolly
- majorly
- mightily
- mighty
- monstrous [chiefly dialect]
- mortally
- much
- particularly
- passing
- rattling
- real
- really
- right
- roaring
- roaringly
- seriously
- severely
- so
- sore
- sorely
- spanking
- specially
- stinking
- such
- super
- supremely
- surpassingly
- terribly
- that
- thumping
- too
- unco
- uncommonly
- vastly
- very
- vitally
- way
- whacking
- wicked
- wildly
Noun
Adverb (2)
Examples of most in a Sentence
Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 15 Sep. 2023
The current record for most consecutive days spent in space overall belongs to Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, who spent 437 days in space.
—Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 12 Sep. 2023
Nearly two months later, the court is hearing arguments from eight petitioners against the law, most of them civil society organizations that campaign for good governance, as well as representatives of the government and parliament.
—Patrick Kingsley, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Sep. 2023
Authenticity, no matter what that looks like for your brand, is a refreshing change of pace for most consumers — and one that will create a longer-lasting, more positive impression than hyper-targeted or gimmicky storytelling.
—Rolling Stone Culture Council, Rolling Stone, 12 Sep. 2023
Now people get most of their information from the internet and social media.
—Spin Staff, Spin, 12 Sep. 2023
Her show airs on most local stations between 7 p.m. and midnight and reaches some 8.3 million listeners each month, according to her radio reps who cite a Nielsen Fall 2022 Nationwide survey.
—Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY, 1 Sep. 2023
White set Super Bowl records for most points (20) and most receptions (14) and became just the second running back with more than 100 receiving yards in a Super Bowl.
—Jeff Potrykus, Journal Sentinel, 1 Sep. 2023
The Wildcats return most of their offensive starters from last season, so most of the open positions are on defense.
—Justin Spears, The Arizona Republic, 1 Sep. 2023
Jeff Miller, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2023
Ladapo, whom DeSantis appointed in September 2021, has become one of the nation’s most prominent Covid vaccine skeptics.
—Matt Dixon, NBC News, 13 Sep. 2023
But global climate goals generally require not only fully electrifying most driving but also driving significantly less.
—Aarian Marshall, WIRED, 13 Sep. 2023
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is considered Mexico’s second most powerful drug cartel after the Sinaloa Cartel.
—Matthew Strauss, Pitchfork, 13 Sep. 2023
The company has undergone multiple financial woes over the past few months, with two of its most recent movies, Haunted Mansion and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, greatly underperforming at the box office.
—Asher Notheis, Washington Examiner, 13 Sep. 2023
The Jonas Brothers' latest tour features material from five different albums, including their most recent, The Album, which came out in May, and previous hits like 2019’s Happiness Begins and 2008’s A Little Bit Longer.
—Daniela Avila, Peoplemag, 13 Sep. 2023
Allure: What is the item most unlikely to be in your makeup bag?
—Gabi Thorne, Allure, 13 Sep. 2023
The bomb attack, which was the nation's most powerful until the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, killed 33-year-old graduate student Robert Fassnacht, who was doing research in the middle of the night.
—CBS News, 1 Sep. 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'most.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Adjective, Adverb (1), Noun, and Pronoun
Middle English, from Old English mǣst; akin to Old High German meist most, Old English māra more — more at more
Adverb (2)
by shortening
Adjective suffix
Middle English, alteration of -mest (as in formest foremost)
Adjective
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Adverb (1)
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Noun
12th century, in the meaning defined above
Pronoun
13th century, in the meaning defined above
Adverb (2)
circa 1538, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing most
Dictionary Entries Near most
Cite this Entry
“Most.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/most. Accessed 21 Sep. 2023.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
most
1 of 5 adjectivemost
2 of 5 adverbmost
3 of 5 nounmost
4 of 5 adverb-most
5 of 5 adjective suffixAdjective suffix
Middle English -most "most"
More from Merriam-Webster on most
Nglish: Translation of most for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of most for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about most
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