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• EST
  EST

  abbreviation

  Eastern Standard Time.
• -est
  -est

  a suffix forming the superlative degree of adjectives and adverbs.
• est.
  est.

  abbreviation

  established.
• est
  est

  abbreviation

  established

EST

¹ American  

Or E.S.T.,

abbreviation

1. Eastern Standard Time.

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-est ² American  

1. a suffix forming the superlative degree of adjectives and adverbs.

   warmest; fastest; soonest.

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-est ³ American  

1. a native English suffix formerly used to form the second person singular indicative of verbs.

   knowest; sayest; goest.

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est. ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. established.

2. estate.

3. estimate.

4. estimated.

5. estuary.

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EST ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. Eastern Standard Time

2. electric-shock treatment

3. Estonia (international car registration)

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est ² British  

abbreviation

1. Also: estab. established

2. estimate(d)

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-est ³ British  

suffix

1. forming the superlative degree of adjectives and adverbs

   shortest

   fastest

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-est ⁴ British  

suffix

1. forming the archaic second person singular present and past indicative tense of verbs

   thou goest

   thou hadst

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est ⁵ British  

/ ɛst /

noun

1. a treatment intended to help people towards psychological growth, in which they spend many hours in large groups, deprived of food and water and hectored by stewards

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Etymology

Origin of -est²

Middle English; Old English -est, -ost. Compare Greek -isto-

Origin of -est³

Middle English; Old English -est, -ast, -st, 2nd person singular present indicative endings of some verbs ( -s earlier verbal ending + -t, by assimilation from thū thou ¹ ) and 2nd person singular past endings of weak verbs (earlier -es + -t )

Compare meaning

How does est compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• CDT vs. EST
• PST vs. EST
• EST vs. EDT
• CST vs. EST

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

EST -est est. est

EST on Thursday, Feb. 12, and 5:15 a.m.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 2, 2026

Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal before the report’s release at noon EST had widely expected ending stocks to sink across the board, with 2025 crop yields lower amid larger projections for export sales.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 12, 2026

EST on Friday, CBS News reported, citing Down Detector, an online service that tracks tech outages.

From Salon ● Jan. 17, 2025

EST, but must wait till 10:30 to watch USC vs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 30, 2024

EST, the Atlas rocket boosted Friendship 7 into orbit like a champion archer hitting a bull’s-eye.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

The so-called Northumbrian records of the ninth and tenth centuries frequently use -es instead of -est, in the 2nd pers. preterite of regular verbs, e.g., ðu forcerdes usic on-bec = Thou turnedst us hindward.

From Early English Alliterative Poems in the West-Midland Dialect of the Fourteenth Century by Richard Morris

There was a time when, as to their adverbs, people compared them, to a large extent, with -er and -est, or with more and most, just as their ear or pleasure dictated.

From The Verbalist A Manual Devoted to Brief Discussions of the Right and the Wrong Use of Words and to Some Other Matters of Interest to Those Who Would Speak and Write with Propriety. by Thomas Embly Osmun

The general rule is, that monosyllables and easily pronounced words of two syllables add -er and -est; and other words are preceded by more and most.

From An English Grammar by James Witt Sewell

Which rule,— -er and -est or more and most?

From An English Grammar by James Witt Sewell

Adverbs in -ly usually have more and most instead of the inflected form, only occasionally having -er and -est.

From An English Grammar by James Witt Sewell

Several players, past and present, were on hand for the announcement, and they took turns on stage to help hammer a stake holding a sign that read, “Las Vegas Raiders est. 2020.”

From Reuters ● Jan. 22, 2020

Taylor, President John   Introduction to Tyler's Battalion history,   directed est. of Arizona Stakes,   visited Arizona,   death,   Mexican trip,   photo.

From Mormon Settlement in Arizona A Record of Peaceful Conquest of the Desert by James H. McClintock

Ite, lector benevole, Ite, missa est.   p. 272Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.

From Legends of Florence Collected from the People, First Series by Charles Godfrey Leland

Rather than share my opinion on that pairing, I’ll follow the Latin dictum de gustibus non est disputandum: “There can be no disputes in matters of taste.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

Even before he embarked on a peculiar late-career intellectual partnership with Werner Erhard, the controversial self-help guru who created est, Professor Jensen’s colleagues considered him among the most freethinking and divisive economists of his generation.

From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2024

More appropriate is what legendary Chicago columnist Mike Royko suggested as a motto for his city where public officials often had their hands in the till: Ubi est mea?

From Washington Post ● Aug. 1, 2022

He also enjoyed comic roles, in Godard's Une Femme est une Femme, and, particularly, in De Broca's L'Homme de Rio, in which he played a suave, unflappable secret agent.

From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2021

All night I lie awake with my body tensed, ready to leap up at the slight- est noise.

From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau