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• best
  best

  adjective

  of the highest quality, excellence, or standing.
• Best
  Best

  noun

  Charles Herbert, 1899–1978, Canadian physiologist, born in the U.S.: one of the discoverers of insulin.

best

¹ American  

[best] / bɛst /

adjective

1. of the highest quality, excellence, or standing.

   I do my best work after meditation.

   Singling out the student with the top GPA is not always the most effective way to find the best students.

2. most advantageous, suitable, or desirable.

   We've investigated a number of methods, but this is the best way.

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adverb

1. most excellently or suitably; with most advantage or success.

   I think it will be an opera role that best suits her voice.

2. in or to the highest degree; most fully (usually used in combination).

   Shakespeare's best-known poems are his sonnets, but he also wrote narrative poems.

   Eleanor Roosevelt and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy remain two of the United States' best-loved First Ladies.

   Your security system company can advise you about the features best suited for your home.

noun

1. the best, something or someone that is the most excellent, most suitable, of the highest quality, or the highest degree (often used withof ).

   They always demand and get the best.

   The best of us can make mistakes.

   To the best of my knowledge, this was the first use of that word in print.

2. a person's finest clothing.

   It's important that you wear your best.

3. a person's most agreeable or desirable emotional state (often preceded byat ).

   She's not at her best before her morning coffee, so you might want to wait a few minutes to talk to her.

4. a person's highest degree of competence, inspiration, etc. (often preceded byat ).

   He's at his best when he works in a team.

5. the highest quality to be found in a given activity or category of things (often preceded byat ).

   These gorgeous oak kitchen cabinets are an example of cabinetmaking at its best.

6. the maximum effort that a person, group, or thing can make.

   Their best fell far short of excellence.

7. a person's good wishes or kindest regards.

   Please give my best to your father.

verb (used with object)

• bests,
  present (3rd person singular)
• bested,
  past participle,  past
• besting
  present participle

1. to get the better of; defeat; beat.

   He easily bested his opponent in hand-to-hand combat.

   She bested me in the argument.

idioms

1. the best part of, most of.

   Repairing the window took the best part of a day.

2. at best, under the most favorable circumstances.

   You may expect to be treated civilly, at best.

3. all for the best, for the good as the final result; to an ultimate advantage: Also for the best

   It turned out to be all for the best, though at the time we didn’t realize it.

4. make the best of, to cope with in the best way possible.

   The rain makes it a lot harder to have a picnic, but we know how to make the best of a bad situation.

5. as best one can, in the best way possible under the circumstances.

   We tried to smooth over the disagreement as best we could.

6. get / have the best of,

   1. to gain the advantage over.

   2. to defeat; subdue.

      His allergies get the best of him from time to time.

7. best of both worlds, the most excellent or desirable parts of two things combined, especially two things that might otherwise be difficult to reconcile.

   With a quiet rural atmosphere and a short commute time into the city, this suburb is ideal for office workers who want the best of both worlds.

8. had best, would be wisest or most reasonable to; ought to.

   You had best phone your mother to tell her where you are going.

9. with the best, on a par with the most capable.

   He can play bridge with the best.

Best ² American  

[best] / bɛst /

noun

1. Charles Herbert, 1899–1978, Canadian physiologist, born in the U.S.: one of the discoverers of insulin.

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best ¹ British  

/ bɛst /

adjective

1. the superlative of good

2. most excellent of a particular group, category, etc

3. most suitable, advantageous, desirable, attractive, etc

4. most of

   the best part of an hour

5. 1. to do one's utmost to make progress

   2. to hurry

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adverb

1. the superlative of well 1

2. in a manner surpassing all others; most excellently, advantageously, attractively, etc

3. (in combination) in or to the greatest degree or extent; most

   the best-loved hero

4. as effectively as possible within one's limitations

5. would be wise, sensible, etc, to

   you had best go now

noun

1. the most outstanding or excellent person, thing, or group in a category

2. (often preceded by at) the most excellent, pleasing, or skilled quality or condition

   journalism at its best

3. the most effective effort of which a person or group is capable

   even their best was inadequate

4. a winning majority

   the best of three games

5. Also: all the best.  best wishes

   she sent him her best

6. a person's smartest outfit of clothing

7. 1. in the most favourable interpretation

   2. under the most favourable conditions

8. 1. for an ultimately good outcome

   2. with good intentions

      he meant it for the best

9. to surpass, defeat, or outwit; better

10. to concede someone's superiority

11. to cope as well as possible in the unfavourable circumstances of (often in the phrases make the best of a bad job, make the best of it )

12. informal six strokes with a cane on the buttocks or hand

verb

1. (tr) to gain the advantage over or defeat

Best ² British  

/ bɛst /

noun

1. Charles Herbert . 1899–1978, Canadian physiologist: associated with Banting and Macleod in their discovery of insulin in 1922

2. George . 1946–2005, Northern Ireland footballer

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Best Scientific  

/ bĕst /

1. American-born Canadian physiologist who assisted Frederick Banting in the discovery of the hormone insulin. In acknowledgment of his work, Banting shared his portion of the 1923 Nobel Prize with Best. In addition to further refining the use of insulin, Best later discovered the vitamin choline and the enzyme histaminase, which breaks down histamine.

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best More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing best

• Sunday best
• all for the best
• all the best
• as best one can
• at best
• at one's best
• better
• come off (second-best)
• do one's best
• get the better (best) of
• give it one's best shot
• had better (best)
• in one's (best) interest
• make the best of it
• on one's best behavior
• put one's best foot forward
• second best
• to the best of one's ability
• with the best of them
• with the best will in the world

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• besting
  present
• bested
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• best
  simple
• bests
  simple
• have bested
  perfect
• has bested
  perfect
• am besting
  progressive
• are besting
  progressive
• is besting
  progressive
• have been besting
  perfect progressive
• has been besting
  perfect progressive

Past

• bested
  simple
• had bested
  perfect
• was besting
  progressive
• were besting
  progressive
• had been besting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will best
  simple
• will have bested
  perfect
• will be besting
  progressive
• will have been besting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of best

First recorded before 900; Middle English beste, Old English betst, best; cognate with Dutch best, Old High German bezzist ( German best ), Old Norse bezt, Gothic batists; see better ¹, -est ¹

Explanation

Nothing is better than the best — this is a word for the absolute number one example of something. Best is the opposite of worst. People love arguing about who's the best at different things. Most people think Michael Jordan is the best basketball player of all-time, and Wayne Gretzky is the best hockey player ever, but there's not much agreement on who's the best football player or baseball player. Best has other meanings too: If you defeated someone, you bested them. People also use this word to recommend something, as in "It would be best to get a lot of sleep."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

best Best bests bested besting

“I believe strongly that Apollo’s best days lie ahead,” Black said in a press release about his unexpected move.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

WSJ | Buy Side: See the best car insurance companies based on our analysis of costs, coverage features and more.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Katseye ended its Daisy Chain Fields announcement by sending their best wishes to Rodrigo, the rest of the lineup and all who put effort toward the event.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

Atkinson has the next best record with 52%.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

I tried to hold it together as best I could.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

Author Selina Brown, whose book My Rice Is Best was selected for distribution through Imagination Library, noted how the plotline features a black protagonist.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

Bonfig, a longtime Best Buy executive, is set to take the helm in November, succeeding current Chief Executive Corie Barry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

Best are her “Tonight Show” appearances with Johnny Carson, dating from before her movie stardom.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

Best known for playing Jon Snow for eight seasons in the award-winning series Game of Thrones, Harington also appears in the BBC and HBO financial drama Industry.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

“Mrs. Hopper and Mrs. Patel and I have consulted with one another. We have decided to give the prize for Best Trick to Sayeh Nasiri.”

From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney

After almost three hours on their feet and the finish line in sight, two runners sacrificed personal bests to come to the rescue of an exhausted competitor at the Boston Marathon.

From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026

Michael B. Jordan and Jessie Buckley won top acting prizes; “One Battle After Another” bests “Sinners” for Oscars gold.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2026

Kenya's Doris Lemngole won the women's 3,000 in 8:31.39 with Britain's Hannah Nuttall second in 8:32.94 -- both personal bests.

From Barron's ● Feb. 1, 2026

On a population-adjusted basis, by my calculation, only FDR bests him—FDR whose four presidential runs were all blowouts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 13, 2026

“A sailor? A common sailor? A common ordinary seaman bests the great Inigo Montoya with the sword? In-con-ceiv-a-ble. He must be the Dread Pirate Roberts. Otherwise it makes no sense.”

From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman

The U.S. swimmer bested Mark Spitz’s seven golds won at the Munich games in 1972.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Its third-quarter guidance for both profit and sales, at the midpoint, also bested forecasts.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

The oysterman and former Marine who bested a popular governor and built a grass-roots network of more than 15,000 supporters in Maine announced he was suspending his campaign on Wednesday night.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026

Mr. Cornyn bested Mr. Paxton in the first round of primary voting by more than 25,000 votes out of over two million cast.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026

Overjoyed at having bested the disdainful Urey, “he jumped out of bed, heedless of his cold, danced around the room, and gleefully congratulated us,” Kamen recalled.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Alphabet’s shares are up roughly 70% in the past year—easily besting its Big Tech competitors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Among the company’s business segments, second-quarter sales for aeronautics, which includes the F-35 fighter jet, rose 9.3% to $8.11 billion, besting the FactSet consensus of $7.61 billion.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

The 21-year-old now has the best figures in the format, besting the previous record held by Bhutan's Sonam Yeshey, who took eight wickets for seven runs against Myanmar in a men's T20 international in 2025.

From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026

Going into Sunday’s Academy Awards, “Sinners” was nominated for a record-breaking 16 nominations, besting the previous achievement of 14 nominations held by “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2026

Despite besting twenty-three of the world’s most eminent chess players, though, he remained relatively unimpressed with his performance: “I am satisfied with the result, but not with my play.”

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Related Words

• beat
• blank
• conquer
• outclass
• outdo
• outshine
• overcome
• surpass
• take care of
• trounce