least concern
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of least concern
First recorded in 1995–2000
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 authors also considered threat levels -- for example "threatened," "endangered" or "least concern," -- for 163,000 species as assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
From Science Daily
If a species becomes more at risk - for example, its numbers fall or its habitat is damaged - it may be moved to a higher-risk category such as Endangered; if it recovers thanks to conservation efforts, it may shift to a lower-risk category like Near Threatened or Least Concern.
From BBC
The green turtle has been downgraded from Endangered to Least Concern.
From BBC
The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers the species to be of “least concern.”
From Los Angeles Times
Today, the whales have recovered to the point that they are considered a species of “least concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, though the organization considers the western population of the whales that lives off Asia to be endangered.
From Seattle Times
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.