1
: greatest in quantity, extent, or degree
the most ability
2
: the majority of
most people
1
: to the greatest or highest degree
—often used with an adjective or adverb to form the superlative
the most challenging job he ever had
2
: to a very great degree
was most persuasive
: the greatest amount
it's the most I can do
singular or plural in construction
: the greatest number or part
most become discouraged and quit
: almost
we'll be crossing the river most any time now—
Hamilton Basso
Hamilton Basso
Can most be used in place of almost?: Usage Guide
Although considered by some to be unacceptable in all cases, most is often used to mean "almost" in both spoken and, to a lesser extent, written English to modify the adjectives all, every, and any; the pronouns all, everyone, everything, everybody, anyone, anything, and anybody; and the adverbs everywhere, anywhere, and always. Other uses of this sense of most are dialectal.
: most
innermost
: most toward
headmost
Synonyms
Adjective
Adverb (1)
- achingly
- almighty
- archly
- awful
- awfully
- badly
- beastly
- blisteringly
- bone
- colossally
- corking
- cracking
- damn
- damned
- dang
- deadly
- desperately
- eminently
- enormously
- especially
- ever
- exceedingly
- exceeding
- extra
- extremely
- fabulously
- fantastically
- far
- fiercely
- filthy
- frightfully
- full
- greatly
- heavily
- highly
- hugely
- immensely
- incredibly
- intensely
- jolly
- majorly
- mightily
- mighty
- monstrous [chiefly dialect]
- mortally
- much
- particularly
- passing
- rattling
- real
- really
- right
- roaring
- roaringly
- seriously
- severely
- so
- sore
- sorely
- spanking
- specially
- stinking
- such
- super
- supremely
- surpassingly
- terribly
- that
- thumping
- too
- unco
- uncommonly
- vastly
- very
- vitally
- way
- whacking
- wicked
- wildly
Noun
Adverb (2)
Examples of most in a Sentence
Adjective
Choosing a color took the most time.
That family owned the most land.
Unfortunately the negative aspects of our schools get the most attention.
Noun
this room will accommodate 50 people at the most
Recent Examples on the WebLilah Ramzi, Vogue, 27 Apr. 2024
Air quality levels remain in red for most of the East Coast due to smoke from wildfires that have been burning in Canada for weeks.
—Matt Simon, WIRED, 27 Apr. 2024
Pope spent most of her Boeing career in top financial jobs, serving as CFO of both its services arm, and BCA.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 27 Apr. 2024
Its agents are some of the world’s most adroit dealmakers.
—Christina Binkley, Robb Report, 27 Apr. 2024
But the city’s revenue from mayor’s court alone in fiscal year 2022 exceeded most cities and towns’ overall collections in fines and forfeitures, including some larger cities.
—Lee Zurik, ProPublica, 26 Apr. 2024
Advice columnist Carolyn Hax takes your comments and questions most Fridays about life, family, relationships and more.
—Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 19 Apr. 2024
The sanitorium had some 40 buildings, could generate power and grow most of its food.
—Jennifer Dixon, Detroit Free Press, 15 Apr. 2024
For most people, April 15 is the last day to submit tax returns or to file an extension.
—Fatima Hussein, Fortune, 15 Apr. 2024
Ania Nussbaum, Fortune Europe, 16 Apr. 2024
The Czechs lost the key to their security as Germany completed its occupation of Sudetenland in early October, absorbing about a third of Czechoslovakia's population and its most important industrial sites.
—TIME, 16 Apr. 2024
Maxime Verret Photo: Maxime Verret That philosophy was most visible in a corridor running along the back of the room, where 21 new objects and furniture pieces were displayed next to items from the Hermès archives, artfully curated to appear in dialogue.
—Liam Hess, Vogue, 16 Apr. 2024
Read Skoll’s full letter to staff: Dear Participant Team,
For 20 years, Participant has stood as the leading global media company focused on timely and emotionally transformational stories which speak to the world’s most pressing issues.
—Matt Donnelly, Variety, 16 Apr. 2024
Later in life, Erskine credited Robinson for teaching him some of life’s most important lessons — tolerance, patience, care and understanding.
—Russ Stanton, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024
The Fall Off most definitely needs to be a unanimous classic or at least close to it for borderline fans such as myself to take him seriously again.
—Angel Diaz, Billboard, 16 Apr. 2024
That was a key issue in last year’s Hollywood writers and actors strikes — and is yet another facet of remix culture that, alongside copyright expirations, could change the faces of some of history’s most renowned characters in ways no one has ever considered.
—Andrew Dalton, Fortune, 16 Apr. 2024
Despite Detroit’s big rebound in property values leading Wayne County’s resurgence, and not slighting the gains in defense spending in Macomb County, Oakland County continues to be the state’s main economic driver and Michigan’s most prosperous big county by far.
—Bill Laytner, Detroit Free Press, 5 Apr. 2024
Adjective
Balenciaga, Balmain, Jacques Fath, Hardie Amies, and more were churning out ultra-glamorous, highly feminine dresses for most of the decade.
—Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 27 Apr. 2024
Air quality levels remain in red for most of the East Coast due to smoke from wildfires that have been burning in Canada for weeks.
—Matt Simon, WIRED, 27 Apr. 2024
Pope spent most of her Boeing career in top financial jobs, serving as CFO of both its services arm, and BCA.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 27 Apr. 2024
Its agents are some of the world’s most adroit dealmakers.
—Christina Binkley, Robb Report, 27 Apr. 2024
But the city’s revenue from mayor’s court alone in fiscal year 2022 exceeded most cities and towns’ overall collections in fines and forfeitures, including some larger cities.
—Lee Zurik, ProPublica, 26 Apr. 2024
Advice columnist Carolyn Hax takes your comments and questions most Fridays about life, family, relationships and more.
—Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 19 Apr. 2024
The sanitorium had some 40 buildings, could generate power and grow most of its food.
—Jennifer Dixon, Detroit Free Press, 15 Apr. 2024
For most people, April 15 is the last day to submit tax returns or to file an extension.
—Fatima Hussein, Fortune, 15 Apr. 2024
Adverb
Add to that a preference for high-risk gambits that’s unnerving his most important stakeholders both at home and abroad.
—Ania Nussbaum, Fortune Europe, 16 Apr. 2024
The Czechs lost the key to their security as Germany completed its occupation of Sudetenland in early October, absorbing about a third of Czechoslovakia's population and its most important industrial sites.
—TIME, 16 Apr. 2024
Maxime Verret Photo: Maxime Verret That philosophy was most visible in a corridor running along the back of the room, where 21 new objects and furniture pieces were displayed next to items from the Hermès archives, artfully curated to appear in dialogue.
—Liam Hess, Vogue, 16 Apr. 2024
Read Skoll’s full letter to staff: Dear Participant Team,
For 20 years, Participant has stood as the leading global media company focused on timely and emotionally transformational stories which speak to the world’s most pressing issues.
—Matt Donnelly, Variety, 16 Apr. 2024
Later in life, Erskine credited Robinson for teaching him some of life’s most important lessons — tolerance, patience, care and understanding.
—Russ Stanton, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024
The Fall Off most definitely needs to be a unanimous classic or at least close to it for borderline fans such as myself to take him seriously again.
—Angel Diaz, Billboard, 16 Apr. 2024
That was a key issue in last year’s Hollywood writers and actors strikes — and is yet another facet of remix culture that, alongside copyright expirations, could change the faces of some of history’s most renowned characters in ways no one has ever considered.
—Andrew Dalton, Fortune, 16 Apr. 2024
Despite Detroit’s big rebound in property values leading Wayne County’s resurgence, and not slighting the gains in defense spending in Macomb County, Oakland County continues to be the state’s main economic driver and Michigan’s most prosperous big county by far.
—Bill Laytner, Detroit Free Press, 5 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'most.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near most
Cite this Entry
“Most.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/most. Accessed 30 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
most
1 of 5 adjective1
: the majority of
most people believe this
2
: greatest in amount or extent
the most ability
most
2 of 5 adverb1
: to the greatest or highest level or extent
—often used with an adjective or adverb to form the superlative
most active
most actively
2
: to a very great extent
a most careful driver
most
3 of 5 noun
: the greatest amount, number, or part
most
4 of 5 adverb
: almost
the cost of most everything is higher
-most
5 of 5 adjective suffixˌmōst
: most
innermost
Etymology
Adjective suffix
Middle English -most "most"
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