bottom of the barrel

Idioms  

1. The least desirable, the dregs, as in The nominating committee had trouble finding candidates; they were settling for the bottom of the barrel. The phrase often occurs in scrape the bottom of the barrel, meaning “to use the least desirable elements” (because one has no choice), as in Bringing up that minor legal point proves that you're scraping the bottom of the barrel. This metaphor for the sediment left by wine in a barrel was already used by Cicero to describe the lowest elements of Roman society. [First half of 1900s]

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Example Sentences

Nygren is a value-stock investor, but that does not mean he scrapes the bottom of the barrel for the cheapest stocks.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 5, 2026

The horror space does not necessarily demand ingenuity; there’s an audience for even the worst drivel at the bottom of the barrel.

From Salon • Feb. 26, 2025

Lal was at the bottom of the barrel, the last-string receiver on the freshman B team.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 1, 2024

“You can be quite certain that at the bottom of the barrel of that supply chain, someone is making next to nothing,” Gutfreund says.

From National Geographic • Feb. 5, 2024

My classmates from upstate left for one last long weekend home with their spouses and kids before joining me, down in the bottom of the barrel.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

Related Words

• immature
• incomplete
• inexact
• rudimentary
• sketchy
• warped