best.
superlative form of good: most good.
Meaning & usage
superlative form of good: most good.
I can either be your best friend or your worst enemy.
Most; largest.
Unpacking took the best part of a week.
Most superior; most favorable.
In my opinion, mushrooms are the best pizza toppings.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English best, beste, from Old English bezt, betest, from Proto-Germanic *batistaz. Cognates Cognate with Scots best (“best”), Cimbrian peste, péste (“best”), Dutch best (“best”), German beste (“best”), Yiddish בעסט (best, “best”), Danish bedst (“best”), Faroese bestur (“best”), Icelandic bestur, beztur (“best”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk best (“best”), Swedish bäst (“best”), Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐍄𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (batists, “best”).
superlative form of well: most well
A popular aphorism says it best: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
To the most advantage; with the most success, cause, profit, benefit, or propriety.
You'd best save a backup copy, just in case the morons lose the one that you sent and then try to act like you never sent one.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English best, beste, from Old English bezt, betest, from Proto-Germanic *batistaz. Cognates Cognate with Scots best (“best”), Cimbrian peste, péste (“best”), Dutch best (“best”), German beste (“best”), Yiddish בעסט (best, “best”), Danish bedst (“best”), Faroese bestur (“best”), Icelandic bestur, beztur (“best”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk best (“best”), Swedish bäst (“best”), Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐍄𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (batists, “best”).
The supreme effort one can make, or has made.
I did my best.
My personal best in that race is eighteen minutes, four seconds.
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.
The person (or persons; or thing or things) that is (are) most excellent.
Even the best of us makes mistakes, but only a few with the best of intentions...
We're (the) best of friends, who fortunately enjoy the best of health.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English best, beste, from Old English bezt, betest, from Proto-Germanic *batistaz. Cognates Cognate with Scots best (“best”), Cimbrian peste, péste (“best”), Dutch best (“best”), German beste (“best”), Yiddish בעסט (best, “best”), Danish bedst (“best”), Faroese bestur (“best”), Icelandic bestur, beztur (“best”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk best (“best”), Swedish bäst (“best”), Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐍄𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (batists, “best”).
To surpass in skill or achievement.
To beat in a contest.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English best, beste, from Old English bezt, betest, from Proto-Germanic *batistaz. Cognates Cognate with Scots best (“best”), Cimbrian peste, péste (“best”), Dutch best (“best”), German beste (“best”), Yiddish בעסט (best, “best”), Danish bedst (“best”), Faroese bestur (“best”), Icelandic bestur, beztur (“best”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk best (“best”), Swedish bäst (“best”), Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐍄𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (batists, “best”).
Had best.
It's getting late. You best get on home.
Where this word comes from
Shortening of had best
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.