Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use least in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, determiner, adverb

Least means chiefly used with abstract nouns: less than all others in extent or size; littlest, smallest. Example: “He earns the least money in his family.”

Examples of least by meaning

adjectiveChiefly used with abstract nouns: less than all others in extent or size; littlest, smallest.

  • least common multiple

determinerSmallest in amount or extent.

  • He earns the least money in his family.
  • Of all the sisters, she has the least patience.
  • “Well,” I says, “I cal'late a body could get used to Tophet if he stayed there long enough.” She flared up; the least mite of a slam at Doctor Wool was enough to set her going.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter V, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

determinerFollowed by a plural noun: the smallest number of; the fewest.

  • Whichever queue contains the least items by the time this logic branch is reached will be executed first.

determinerAny, no matter how small in amount or extent.

  • not even the least amount
  • It is indicative of his true character that he could not manage to show even the least bit of courtesy in such a situation.

adverbIn a degree below all others; in the lowest or smallest degree.

  • My best routine was the one I had practised the least.
  • I don’t much like housework, and doing the dishes least of all.
  • That decision rewards those who least deserve it.

adverbUsed to form superlatives of adjectives, especially those that do not form the superlative by adding -est.

  • It was the least surprising thing.

nounPreceded by the: superlative form of little: most little; the lowest-ranking or most insignificant person or...

  • even the least of
  • The pastor preached that even the least of God’s creatures deserves freedom from needless or idle cruelty.

pronounChiefly preceded by the: superlative form of little: most little; the smallest amount or extent of something.

  • I’m giving least of all towards her present.

More sentences with least

  • The Ainu were subject to forced assimilation by the Japanese since at least the 18th century.From the entry Japanese
  • His circus job was the pits, but at least he was in show business.From the entry pit
  • It may be prison, but at least I'm getting three square meals a day.From the entry square
  • My mum’s gravy was thick but at least it moved about.From the entry thick
  • At least this year's overrun isn't as unmanageable as last year!From the entry overrun
  • I'd have thought you could have done the dishes, at least.From the entry could
  • Catholic homilies normally draw on at least one Biblical lecture, often parables.From the entry parable
  • We still have the spare tire? That's a comfort at least.From the entry comfort
  • The principle of least privilege holds that a process should only receive the permissions it needs.From the entry principle
  • You have to toke the maitre d’ at least $50 if you want a really good table.From the entry toke
  • Everton require at least 3 goals in the second leg to avoid elimination from the FA Cup.From the entry elimination
  • He thought he could become a player, at least at the state level.From the entry player
  • We've found that git reverts are at least an order of magnitude faster than SVN reverse merges.From the entry revert
  • It is pretty unlikely that you'll win, but I will pray that at least you do well.From the entry unlikely
  • At least he didn't suffer when he died in the car crash.From the entry suffer
  • Under current guidelines, refined sugar must be at least five times purer than its raw counterpart.From the entry refined
  • He takes the commuter to headquarters at least once a week.From the entry commuter
  • Hey, I get it — interpersonal diplomacy can be challenging. But we must at least try.From the entry get it
  • Route 9 is a deathtrap; they should at least put up guard rails.From the entry deathtrap
  • His grasp of rudimentary English allowed him at least to do the shopping.From the entry rudimentary
  • Grandpa's lost his marbles, but at least he still recognizes us.From the entry marbles
  • The charged was judged incompetent to stand trial, at least until his medication started working.From the entry incompetent
  • We clocked in at 7:30, but didn't actually do any work until at least 8.From the entry clock in
  • Ordering has to be complete at least six weeks before expected delivery to get our best prices.From the entry ordering
  • That wall has to be at least three wythes of brick to support your load.From the entry wythe
  • Trying to figure out how to square this circle is a brainteaser to say the least.From the entry brainteaser

Meaning of least

  1. adjective Chiefly used with abstract nouns: less than all others in extent or size; littlest, smallest.
  2. adjective Of two or more animals or plants with the same name: the smaller or smallest.
  3. adjective Lowest in importance or status; most insignificant or unimportant.

Full definition of least

Questions about least in a sentence

How do you use least in a sentence?
Least is used as an adjective, determiner and adverb. For example: “He earns the least money in his family.”
What is a short sentence with least?
“least common multiple”
What does least mean?
Least means chiefly used with abstract nouns: less than all others in extent or size; littlest, smallest.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: least (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use least in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/least. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.