Adjective You should wear your best clothes tonight. We ate the best food and drank the best wines. His modesty and sense of humor are his best qualities. Is that your best offer? Which of these do you think tastes best? Mary sends you her very best wishes. She's the best student in her class. He won the award for best actor in a drama. She truly believes that this is the best way to solve the problem. She's the team's best hope for a medal. Adverb The sauce is best served cold. They work best under pressure. That's what we do best! We need to think about how best to fix this problem. The work should be done by the people who are best able to do it. She's best suited to life in the city. He is best known for his invention of the light bulb. The museum features some of the best-known examples of this style of painting. Noun Out of all of my workers, he's the best. Our company is the best in the business. Thanks, Dad. You're the best! I have one more gift for you, and I saved the best for last. Bad things happen to the best of us. They want the best for their children. Even in the best of times, we had trouble paying our bills. In the best of all possible worlds, no one would be without food and clean water. I have a wonderful family and a great job, so I feel that I have the best of both worlds. He did his best to help them. Verb at last she's bested her card-playing mother at the game of hearts See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up to date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Shafiq Najib, Peoplemag, 11 Sep. 2022 Garrett’s non-response came after four years of ups and downs between the two that didn’t end on the best of notes. Tim Bielik, cleveland, 11 Sep. 2022 To see what everyone else is reading, check out the USA TODAY Best-Selling Books list for this week's best sellers. Barbara Vandenburgh, USA TODAY, 11 Sep. 2022 The best way to watch any sort of network programming for free on a big screen is with a good HD antenna. Chris Morris, Fortune, 11 Sep. 2022 Finding out the best way to watch every NFL game in 2022 can be a little confusing. Tim Brown | The Oregonian/oregonlive, oregonlive, 11 Sep. 2022 Slick coffee-table books about landmark sneakers and their advertising campaigns have become best sellers.New York Times, 10 Sep. 2022 The idea is that the best way to close the wealth gap and give people the opportunity to build a more stable life is to provide unrestricted cash payments to some of the most vulnerable Americans. Kurtis Lee, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Sep. 2022 Remote companies say the best way to navigate asynchronous work is to have the most appropriate digital tools for the task and clear communication surrounding them. Danielle Abril, Washington Post, 9 Sep. 2022
Adverb
Elordi is best known for his roles as antagonistic jock Nate Jacobs in teen drama Euphoria and swoon-worthy love interest Noah Flynn in The Kissing Booth film franchise. Jessica Wang, EW.com, 12 Sep. 2022 Franklin was best known for her sturdy catalog of R&B and gospel hits, but the file shows her possible affiliation -- both real and perceived -- with Communist and Black liberation organizations was a regular focus for federal agents. Eliott C. Mclaughlin, CNN, 11 Sep. 2022 Not sure what kind of clipper or grinder will work best on your dog? Corinne Sullivan, Woman's Day, 8 Sep. 2022 Officers in the property crimes bureau have been put on patrol, Bower confirmed, but the department is constantly changing schedules to identify which rotations work best. Gloria Rebecca Gomez, The Arizona Republic, 5 Sep. 2022 Colorado blades work best with a slower troll, such as under 2 miles per hour. D'arcy Egan, cleveland, 2 Sep. 2022 For weeks, the show’s producers had been debating which celebrity would best work for the role. Adam B. Vary, Variety, 1 Sep. 2022 Because of their rotary recording surfaces, hard drives work best with larger files that are laid down in contiguous blocks.PCMAG, 26 Aug. 2022 In order to avoid breakouts or dryness, be sure to look into the type of skin that each drops work best with in order to find your perfect fit. Alyssa Brascia, Peoplemag, 24 Aug. 2022
Noun
For Reed, this was her first perfect 10 of her collegiate career—before then, her personal best was a 9.975 on floor.Essence, 26 Jan. 2022 Being at our absolute best may not even equate to wins.San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Jan. 2022 Maybe the most surprised person in the stadium was Thompson-Herah, who didn’t expect a personal best. Ken Goe For The Oregonian/oregonlive, oregonlive, 21 Aug. 2021 Your personal best was a little bit less than 26 feet. Ben Shpigel, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2021 Meanwhile, Andersen's throw was a mere 2 inches shy of Berry's personal best. Eddie Pells, ajc, 27 June 2021 Shaheed captured the 100 in 11.68 seconds and the 200 in 24.07, the latter a personal best. Steve Brand, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 June 2021 But that 43-6.75 stood until the end, when Morgan topped her own personal best. Tim Bielik, cleveland, 5 June 2021 Summer 2021 doesn’t officially start for another week, but celebrities have already begun wearing their seasonal best. Janelle Okwodu, Vogue, 24 May 2021
Verb
Similar to quarantine periods associated with COVID-19, experts noted that universities will once again have to consider how to best support students who are isolating with monkeypox. Arielle Mitropoulos, ABC News, 13 Aug. 2022 Investment firm Hamilton Lane predicts that private markets will best public markets by 300 to 500 basis points every year for the next five years. Karim Nurani, Forbes, 3 Aug. 2022 This is not a character who can be beaten by four girls that are looking to best him. Devan Coggan, EW.com, 14 Aug. 2022 And among all voters, the poll found, Biden would best Trump 44% to 41%. Brittany Shepherd, ABC News, 3 Aug. 2022 Sydney attempted to best her brother during games of hockey on the family’s driveway, while Corey tried to score goals against his sister in soccer and lacrosse in the backyard. Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 1 Aug. 2022 But Spotify’s project smartly moves AI music from a lab experiment to a recreational toy, a better fit than trying to best the Beatles with bytes. Bill Hochberg, Forbes, 29 June 2022 And after winning their first-round match against Michael Venus and Alicja Rosolska on Saturday, one reporter asked the duo whether Venus and Jamie were hoping to best her sister Serena Williams and his brother Andy Murray in the tennis tournament. Amethyst Tate, PEOPLE.com, 4 July 2022 The Norwegian climber is attempting to best the record for ascents of all 14 8,000 meter peaks set in 2019 by Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja. Ben Ayers, Outside Online, 16 May 2022
Auxiliary verb
Similar to quarantine periods associated with COVID-19, experts noted that universities will once again have to consider how to best support students who are isolating with monkeypox. Arielle Mitropoulos, ABC News, 13 Aug. 2022 But Spotify’s project smartly moves AI music from a lab experiment to a recreational toy, a better fit than trying to best the Beatles with bytes. Bill Hochberg, Forbes, 29 June 2022 This is not a character who can be beaten by four girls that are looking to best him. Devan Coggan, EW.com, 14 Aug. 2022 Investment firm Hamilton Lane predicts that private markets will best public markets by 300 to 500 basis points every year for the next five years. Karim Nurani, Forbes, 3 Aug. 2022 And among all voters, the poll found, Biden would best Trump 44% to 41%. Brittany Shepherd, ABC News, 3 Aug. 2022 Sydney attempted to best her brother during games of hockey on the family’s driveway, while Corey tried to score goals against his sister in soccer and lacrosse in the backyard. Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 1 Aug. 2022 And after winning their first-round match against Michael Venus and Alicja Rosolska on Saturday, one reporter asked the duo whether Venus and Jamie were hoping to best her sister Serena Williams and his brother Andy Murray in the tennis tournament. Amethyst Tate, PEOPLE.com, 4 July 2022 All but one of the statewide contests have incumbent Democrats running for reelection, all of whom are expected to best their challengers in the primary and are favored to win reelection in November. Phil Willon, Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Adjective
Middle English best, beste, going back to Old English betst, best, (as weak adjective) betsta, betesta, going back to Germanic *batista-, superlative degree of the adjective seen in the comparative *batizōnbetter entry 1, whence also Old Frisian best, bēst "best," Old Saxon betst, best, Old High German bezzisto, Old Icelandic beztr, baztr, Gothic batista
Adverb
Middle English, going back to Old English betst, betest, derivative of betst, bestbest entry 1
Noun
Middle English, going back to Old English betste, derivative of betst, bestbest entry 1