better than
Idioms-
Superior to, as in He's no better than Tom at writing a memo . [9th century]
-
More than, larger in amount or greater in rate, as in My new car can do better than 100 miles an hour , or The new plan will cut better than 15 percent of costs . Some authorities consider this usage colloquial and advise that it be avoided in formal writing. [Late 1500s] Also see better half , def. 1.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The company previously guided to volume growth this year with full-year free cash flow clearly better than in 2025.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Batty's agent, Evans, knew that better than most.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Net profits were also better than expected for the second quarter, coming in at 2.9 billion euros compared to the 2.3 billion euros the firm made in the same period last year.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
He got a nice ovation from the Philadelphia crowd, which he knew better than to take for granted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
It looked to be quite a good hat, with grapes on it, better than the one that got busted up in the accident.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
