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most

adverb · noun

Simple meaning

To a great extent or degree.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

mohst
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈmoʊst

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adverb

  1. To a great extent or degree; highly; very.

  2. Forms the superlative of many adjectives.

  3. informalchiefly us

    Almost.

noun

  1. countableuncountable

    The greater part.

  2. uncountable

    The greatest amount.

  3. countable

    A record-setting amount.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Forms the superlative of many adjectives.

Used this way, most is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use most

  • “The king cobra is the most dangerous snake.”adverb
  • “Made the most money he could.”adjective

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • mostlyadverbDerived adverb

    In large part.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • most-favored-nationadjectiveCompound term

    Of or relating to a commercial treaty where two nations agree to accord each other the same favorable terms that would be offered in treaties with any other nation.

  • most valuable playernounCompound term

    The player judged to be the most important to the sport.

  • most importantlyadverbCompound term

    Above and beyond all other consideration.

  • most especiallyadverbCompound term

    Above and beyond all other consideration.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Antonyms

Sense: to a great extent or degree

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.