eftest

English

Etymology

The word is used by Dogberry in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (and may be a deliberate error, since Dogberry frequently uses malapropisms). Other writers have used the word in direct allusion to Shakespeare's use. Compare eftsoons and see -est.

Adjective

eftest

1. (rare) Quickest or most convenient.
   • 1855, Charles Fenno Hoffman, Timothy Flint, Lewis Gaylord Clark, The Knickerbocker: Or, New-York Monthly Magazine, page 637:

     Here 'Turk's emotion overcame him: he lifted up his head, turned around, and finding the 'eftest way' and place to lie down upon the hearth-rug, he 'sought repose' before the cheerful grate: […]

   • 2014, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Charles A. Moore, A Source Book in Indian Philosophy, page 494:

     Vayu is the eftest deity