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 bottom of the barrel has not yet been reached, warned Mr Lodewijks.

From BBC • Aug. 9, 2025

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

Times, but she’s into some reality television that is just so bottom of the barrel.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 31, 2025

I wheeled him up an hour later, used my pocketknife to cut holes in the bottom of the barrel for drainage, and built up a fine sweat shoveling in dirt.

From "Seedfolks" by Paul Fleischman

Related Words

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