least common denominator
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of least common denominator
First recorded in 1870–75
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.
“Will there be a fight over which agency gets to be the least common denominator in setting standards for disclosure?” one research lobbyist wonders.
From Science Magazine ● Jan. 10, 2022
“You’ll hear people say that it’s the least common denominator that discourages gifted kids from advancing,” said Elizabeth Hull Barnes, the math supervisor for the district.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 4, 2021
Find the least common denominator of the following rationals:
From Textbooks ● Sep. 23, 2020
Commercial TV, he said, “is struggling with how to engage in the public-affairs conversation and not to boil everything down to the least common denominator and degrade itself.”
From Washington Post ● Nov. 27, 2016
Their task it was to wait upon the golfing male, which is man at his simplest—reduced to the least common denominator and shorn of all attraction for the female eye and heart.
From Gigolo by Ferber, Edna
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.
