Word.ws English Dictionary

at best

at best prepositional phrase: in the most favorable of conditions, especially in a situation that is otherwise negative.

Prepositional phrase

  1. In the most favorable of conditions, especially in a situation that is otherwise negative.
    • The signalman, as such, was unknown at first. At junctions, or for shunting, the pointsman was responsible both for setting the points and working the appropriate signals, the two being independent. As a result, accidents were comparatively frequent, and the pointsman's job was, at best, a...1955 April, R. H. Warring, “Some Early Railway Signals”, in Railway Magazine, page 231
    • Steve Bruce's side have swung from highs to lows in what has been at best a wildly inconsistent start to the season. They experienced a microcosm of this within the opening 45 minutes at the Stadium of Light.2011 October 1, Phil Dawkes, “Sunderland 2 - 2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport
    Antonyms:
    at worst

at best meaning in Arabic

at best in Arabic

in the most favorable of conditions
على أفضل تقدير

Examples of at best in a sentence

  • As a result, accidents were comparatively frequent, and the pointsman's job was, at best, a hazardous one.1955 April, R. H. Warring, “Some Early Railway Signals”, in Railway Magazine, page 231:
  • The power of federal officials to issue a national vaccine mandate is questionable at best.2021 August 6, “Get Vaccinated. Get Masked. It’s the Only Way Out of This.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
  • The review says the business case for this was at best borderline, but goes on to say that the case greatly underestimated passenger demand and that the railway Scotland built has capped its capacity.2023 September 6, Philip Haigh, “£30 billion plan to transform the rail network in Ireland”, in RAIL, number 991, page 25:

Antonyms of at best

Forms of at best

alternative format the best

Questions about at best

What does at best mean?
At best means in the most favorable of conditions, especially in a situation that is otherwise negative.
What is at best in Arabic?
At best in Arabic is على أفضل تقدير. See At best meaning in Arabic.
How do you use at best in a sentence?
As a result, accidents were comparatively frequent, and the pointsman's job was, at best, a hazardous one.
What part of speech is at best?
At best is a prepositional phrase.

Words near at best in the dictionary

  1. at bank
  2. at bar
  3. at bat
  4. at bats
  5. at bay
  6. at best
  7. at bottom
  8. at call
  9. at church every time the doors are open
  10. at church every time the doors swing open
  11. at command

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: at best (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-at best.ogg.

Cite this entry: “at best.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/at_best. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.