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Dictionary.com
Definitions

at best

ADVERB
partly
Synonyms
STRONGEST
at least partially slightly somewhat
WEAK
at most at worst bit by bit by degrees carelessly halfway in a general way in bits and pieces in part in some measure in some ways inadequately incompletely insufficiently little by little measurably not entirely not fully not strictly speaking not wholly notably noticeably piece by piece piecemeal relatively so far as possible to a certain degree to a certain extent up to a certain point within limits
Antonyms
WEAK
completely totally wholly

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

There have been successes with audiences in Australia and South Africa, and a recent, heartening moment with the career revival of Anthony Kim, but the U.S. embrace has been tepid at best.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

While the tone was downbeat, or at best cautious, what was remarkable was how little the Fund changed its global growth outlook from its January update.

From Barron's • Apr. 17, 2026

The stock-market rally of the past 10 days, based on hopes of imminent peace, seems to have been premature at best.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 12, 2026

As a satire, it’s almost too implied — the filmmakers barely bother to develop their ideas, figuring correctly that people already agree the internet is, at best, a neutral-evil.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

Unfortunately, nothing would have survived from such an encounter except, at best, a few fossilised bones and a handful of stone tools that remain mute under the most intense scholarly inquisitions.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari