at bottom
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Fundamentally, basically; also, in reality. For example, He may speak somewhat bluntly, but at bottom he's always honest. Charles Dickens used this idiom in Nicholas Nickleby (1838): “He's a good pony at bottom.” [Early 1700s]
QUIZZES
QUIZ YOURSELF ON AFFECT VS. EFFECT!
In effect, this quiz will prove whether or not you have the skills to know the difference between “affect” and “effect.”
Question 1 of 7
The rainy weather could not ________ my elated spirits on my graduation day.
Words nearby at bottom
ATB, Atbara, at bat, at bay, at best, at bottom, ATC, Atchafalaya, Atchison, at close quarters, at close range
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.