bare minimum
UK/bɛə ˈmɪnɪməm/US/bɛɚ ˈmɪnəməm/
bare minimum noun: the smallest possible quantity or the least fulfilling, but still adequate, condition that is required, acceptable, or suitable for some purpose.
Noun
bare minimum (plural bare minima or bare minimums)
- The smallest possible quantity or the least fulfilling, but still adequate, condition that is required, acceptable, or suitable for some purpose.
- The Belgian colonies, if they adhere to these limits, must provide for all their wants at a lower cost by one half than the French as a bare minimum.1852, Joseph Fletcher, “Statistics of the Farm School System of the Continent,”, in Journal of the Statistical Society of London, volume 15, number 1, page 32
- It is the old problem of what a victor is to do with the vanquished, if the latter is to gain the bare minimum of economic independence.1948, D. B. Copland, “United States Policy in China,”, in Pacific Affairs, volume 21, number 4, page 344
- Synonyms:
- modicum
Synonyms of bare minimum
Forms of bare minimum
| plural | bare minima |
|---|---|
| plural | bare minimums |
Words formed from bare minimum
Questions about bare minimum
- What does bare minimum mean?
- Bare minimum means the smallest possible quantity or the least fulfilling, but still adequate, condition that is required, acceptable, or suitable for some purpose.
- What part of speech is bare minimum?
- Bare minimum is a noun.
- How do you pronounce bare minimum?
- Bare minimum is pronounced /bɛə ˈmɪnɪməm/ (UK).
- What is the plural of bare minimum?
- The plural of bare minimum is bare minima.
Words near bare minimum in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: bare minimum (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.
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Cite this entry: “bare minimum.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bare_minimum. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.