best
English
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Etymology
From Middle English beste, best, from Old English betst, betest, from Proto-Germanic *batistaz.
Pronunciation
Adjective
best (positive good, adverb well, comparative better, superlative (humorous) bestest)
- superlative form of good: most good.
- I can either be your best friend or your worst enemy.
- 1600, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice:
- When he is best, he is a little worse than a man.
- 1676, Paradise Lost:John Milton
- Heaven's last, best gift
- 2011 October 7, Lana Del Rey, Justin Parker (lyrics and music), “Video Games”, in Born to Die, performed by Lana Del Rey:
- Swinging in the backyard / Pull up in your fast car whistling my name / Open up a beer / And you say get over here and play a video game / […] / I say you the bestest / Lean in for a big kiss, put his favorite perfume on / Go play your video game
- 2013 August 10, Schumpeter, “Cronies and capitols”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:
- Policing the relationship between government and business in a free society is difficult. […] Governments have to find the best people to fill important jobs: there is a limited supply of people who understand the financial system, for example. But governments must also remember that businesses are self-interested actors who will try to rig the system for their own benefit.
- Most; largest.
- Unpacking took the best part of a week.
Usage notes
The comparative gooder and superlative goodest derived from the positive good are nonstandard. In informal (often jocular) contexts, best may be inflected further and given the comparative bester and the superlative bestest; these forms are also nonstandard.
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
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Adverb
best
- superlative form of well: most well
- (Can we date this quote by John Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- Thou serpent! That name best befits thee.
- (Can we date this quote by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- He prayeth best, who loveth best / All things both great and small.
- Template:RQ:Chmbrs YngrSt
- At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy ; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of that false modesty which condescends, turning technicality into pabulum.
- (Can we date this quote by John Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- To the most advantage; with the most success, cause, profit, benefit, or propriety.
- (colloquial shortening) Had best.
- It's getting late. You best get on home.
Translations
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Noun
best (countable and uncountable, plural bests)
- (uncountable) The supreme effort one can make, or has made.
- I did my best.
- My personal best in that race is eighteen minutes, four seconds.
- 2011 September 28, Tom Rostance, “Arsenal 2 - 1 Olympiakos”, in BBC Sport[1]:
- Home defender Per Mertesacker had to be at his best to stop a dangerous cross from Vassilis Torossidis reaching Djebbour, but moments later Arsenal doubled their lead through Santos.
- (uncountable) One's best behavior.
- I was somewhat distant lately, and my lady promised me head every Tuesday of the week when I'm nice to her, so I better be on my best.
- (countable) The person (or persons; or thing or things) that is (are) most excellent.
- 1994, Otis L. Guernsey and Jeffrey Sweet, The Best Plays of 1993-1994, page vii:
- Mel Gussow reviews the bests of off off Broadway
- 1995 October, Cincinnati Magazine, [2]:
- But in true Cincinnati style, the bests consistently outnumber the worsts.
- 2011, G. Edward Evans, Sheila S. Intner, and Jean Riddle Weihs, Introduction to Technical Services, page 149:
- There are the bests for each institution, the bests for coalitions, and, of course, the bests for the group as a whole.
- 2013, Jesse Jose, Collections Of My Best And Most-Hated, "A Cup O' Kapeng Barako" Writings, page 209:
- If he's one of the bests, he should be fighting the bests, NOT the pipitsugins.
- 1994, Otis L. Guernsey and Jeffrey Sweet, The Best Plays of 1993-1994, page vii:
Translations
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Verb
best (third-person singular simple present bests, present participle besting, simple past and past participle bested)
- To surpass in skill or achievement.
- (transitive) To beat in a contest
- 2010, T. William Phillips, Restless Heart, page 16:
- "You did not win because I was sloppy. You bested me, Uncle. I've never seen you fight like that before.”
Antonyms
Translations
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Related terms
Derived terms
Anagrams
Dutch
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle Dutch best, from Old Dutch *betst, from Proto-Germanic *batistaz, superlative of *gōdaz. Compare Low German best, English best, West Frisian best, German besten, Danish bedst.
Adjective
best
- (deprecated template usage) Superlative form of goed; best.
- fine, okay
- Mag ik buiten spelen? — Ik vind het best, als je maar voor het eten weer thuis bent.
- May I go and play outside? — It's fine with me, as long as you're back home again before dinner.
- Mag ik buiten spelen? — Ik vind het best, als je maar voor het eten weer thuis bent.
Inflection
- (definite inflected form): beste
Synonyms
- (fine): prima
Adverb
best
Etymology 2
Noun
best f (plural besten, diminutive bestje n)
Middle Dutch
Etymology
From Old Dutch *betst, from Proto-Germanic *batistaz.
Pronunciation
Adjective
best
Adverb
best
Descendants
- Dutch: best
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old English betst, betest.
Adjective
best
- Alternative form of beste
Adverb
best
- Alternative form of beste
Etymology 2
From Old French beste.
Noun
best
- Alternative form of beeste
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
Adjective
best
best (indefinite singular best, definite singular and plural beste)
Derived terms
References
- “best” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
Adjective
best
best (indefinite singular best, definite singular and plural beste)
References
- “best” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old Saxon
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *batistaz.
Adverb
best
Descendants
- Low German: best
Scots
Pronunciation
Adjective
best
Derived terms
- ill-best (“best of a bad lot, best of a poor selection”)
Noun
best (plural bests)
Swedish
Noun
best c
Declension
Declension of best | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | best | besten | bestar | bestarna |
Genitive | bests | bestens | bestars | bestarnas |
Anagrams
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɛst
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English superlative adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English non-lemma forms
- English superlative adverbs
- Requests for date/John Milton
- Requests for date/Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- Requests for date/William Makepeace Thackeray
- English colloquialisms
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English basic words
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Dutch terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Dutch/ɛst
- Dutch terms inherited from Middle Dutch
- Dutch terms derived from Middle Dutch
- Dutch terms inherited from Old Dutch
- Dutch terms derived from Old Dutch
- Dutch terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Dutch terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Dutch non-lemma forms
- Dutch adjective forms
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch adverbs
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -en
- Dutch feminine nouns
- Dutch dated terms
- Middle Dutch terms inherited from Old Dutch
- Middle Dutch terms derived from Old Dutch
- Middle Dutch terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Middle Dutch terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Middle Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle Dutch adjective superlative forms
- Middle Dutch superlative adjectives
- Middle Dutch adverb superlative forms
- Middle Dutch superlative adverbs
- Middle English terms inherited from Old English
- Middle English terms derived from Old English
- Middle English non-lemma forms
- Middle English adjective forms
- Middle English adverb forms
- Middle English terms borrowed from Old French
- Middle English terms derived from Old French
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Old Norse
- Norwegian Bokmål adjective superlative forms
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål adjectives
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Old Norse
- Norwegian Nynorsk adjective superlative forms
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk adjectives
- Old Saxon terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Old Saxon terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Old Saxon adverb superlative forms
- Scots terms with IPA pronunciation
- Scots adjective superlative forms
- Scots superlative adjectives
- Scots lemmas
- Scots nouns
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns