make the best of it

Idioms  

1. Also, make the best of a bad bargain. Adapt as well as possible to a bad situation, bad luck, or similar circumstances, as in Jeff ended up in a cabin without his friends, but decided to make the best of it, or She got the worst possible position, but Dad told her to make the best of a bad bargain. The first term dates from the first half of the 1600s. The second appeared in John Ray's proverb collection of 1670 and coexisted for a time with variants such as make the best of a bad game and make the best of a bad market, which have died out.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

make the best of it

So I stayed pleasant and tried to make the best of it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

They just have to try to make the best of it, he said.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026

In that light, the Infinity Vision program looks more like an effort by Disney to keep a prime holiday release window and make the best of it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 2026

The Conservative Rochford District Council leader Danielle Belton, who proposed a four-council model, said the decision from Westminster "isn't ideal" but "we will make the best of it".

From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026

He is trying to make the best of it because he wants to work in the church, but he thinks the classes are dumb; he must study things he doesn’t need.

From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman