at best

Idioms  

1. 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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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

at best

Therefore, he thinks the stock “will at best stay in a trading range until the dust settles.”

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 11, 2026

By Monday, cooler heads had prevailed; eulogies for the AI trade appear “hyperbolic at best right now.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2026

Dhillon’s success in those initiatives was middling at best — and in some areas disastrous.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

"What they're being offered is, at best, a job, and for many, a precarious one," said the specialist in social movements at the Catholic University of Louvain.

From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026

Or be burdened with gigantic loans, years of obligations to finance an enterprise that would be difficult, at best?

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz

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Related Words

• at least
• partially
• slightly
• somewhat

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