at best

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Under the most favorable circumstances, as in At best we'll be just one week behind schedule, or Cleaning out the attic is a tedious job at best. This idiom, formerly also put as at the best, today is most often used in situations that are actually far from ideal, as in the examples above. [First half of 1300s] For an antonym, see at worst.

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Words nearby at best

ataxiophemia, ATB, Atbara, at bat, at bay, at best, at bottom, ATC, Atchafalaya, Atchison, at close quarters

How to use at best in a sentence

The best comparison here for an American audience is, well, Internet stuff.
Trolls and Martyrdom: Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie|Arthur Chu|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Strangio is at his best when exposing what appears to be a flourishing civil society in Cambodia.
Cambodia’s Smoke-and-Mirrors Democracy|David Shaftel|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Her style, much like her diminutive nickname, is best described as “Hamptons twee”—preppy and peppy.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Perhaps on his own nowadays, Epstein is trying his best to webmaster over a dozen URLs.
Sleazy Billionaire’s Double Life Featured Beach Parties With Stephen Hawking|M.L. Nestel|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Scalise spoke briefly, adding little of substance, saying that the people back home know him best.
The Price of Steve Scalise’s Silence|Jason Berry|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
We resolved to do our best to merit the good opinion which we thus supposed them to entertain of us.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
He is perplexed and hindered by the lack of soldiers, but is doing his best with his small forces.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XX, 1621-1624|Various
If Mac had been alone he would have made the post by sundown, for the Mounted Police rode picked horses, the best money could buy.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
Her best-known works are portrait busts, which are numerous.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
But the Mexicans were not the people to give up their best province so easily.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various

at best

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