foremost
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of foremost
before 1000; fore 1 + -most; replacing Middle English, Old English formest, equivalent to form ( a ) first, variant of fruma (compare Latin prīmus ) + -est -est 1
Explanation
Foremost is an adjective that means holding the highest position or rank. When naming advisors, presidents usually search for the foremost experts on various subjects. If you are the foremost in your profession, you're the expert people will seek out for an opinion. If your foremost concern in a project is money, all other factors are secondary. You can also use this word as an adverb meaning "before anything else." The film, Gone With the Wind, is set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, but first and foremost, it is a love story.
Vocabulary lists containing foremost
Power Prefix: fore-
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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.
He said the UK had the opportunity to be the world's foremost productive user of AI in the world, on top of now significant presence of companies such as Deepmind, Anthropic and OpenAI in Britain.
From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026
Beyond the winning, Guerra cited Shohei Ohtani as a driving force behind the Dodgers’ popularity, and not just as a tourist attraction, merchandise driver, and the foremost product endorser in sports.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026
“The country’s foremost melanoma specialists stood behind the RP1 data,” Patel said.
From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026
“Marvell is first and foremost an optical company and with ports growing rapidly the market growth carries the name alone,” he said in a Thursday note.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026
Suddenly they swept up with a noise like thunder, and the foremost horseman swerved, passing by the foot of the hill, and leading the host back southward along the western skirts of the downs.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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.
