optimal
Americanadjective
adjective
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Etymology
Origin of optimal
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Explanation
Something that's optimal is the best or most favorable for a given situation. Flowers? Check. Chocolates? Check. Dinner reservation? Check. Sounds like you have the optimal conditions for a successful anniversary date. There's an implication with optimal that certain restrictions exist in a given situation, so that what is optimal isn't necessarily the ideal scenario — it's the best one given those limitations. For example, optimal population levels for a species are not the highest levels — instead they're the best levels that a particular environment can sustain. Often the word optimum is used interchangeably with optimal.
Vocabulary lists containing optimal
What If It's Us
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The Martian
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Apple
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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.
The stock reaches a “buy point”—a juncture where a stock’s performance and market conditions reach an optimal point for investing—when shares climb above the initial peak that started the base.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 6, 2026
"This ensures optimal coupling of the metasurface to the detection elements," notes corresponding author Wladislaw Michailow, who led the research at the University of Cambridge and later at Swansea University in the UK.
From Science Daily • May 31, 2026
While people are working, term insurance is usually the optimal option, because it has lower fees and is a simple product that most people understand.
From MarketWatch • May 27, 2026
If you have a better sense of how long you’ll live, you can claim Social Security at the optimal time and adjust your portfolio to match your expected life span.
From Barron's • May 21, 2026
To his outside, a crowd of horses rushed inward to gain optimal position.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
