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PlainSpell

best

/bɛst/adjective, adverb, noun, verb

best is spelled B-E-S-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 692 times per million words in written English, the 148th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, best means “Most; largest” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in best?

Letters4: B-E-S-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing692 times per million words; the 148th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is best?

Best appears 692 times per million words in written English, the 148th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce best?

  • US /bɛst/
  • Australia /best/

Best has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-best.ogg, En-au-best.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with best?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as best from its last stressed vowel (/ɛst/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of best

  • bests plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • besting participle, present
  • bested participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does best mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    superlative form of good: most good. (a form of good)

    I can either be your best friend or your worst enemy.

  2. 2

    Most; largest.

    Unpacking took the best part of a week.

  3. 3

    Most superior; most favorable.

    In my opinion, mushrooms are the best pizza toppings.

adverb

  1. 1

    superlative form of well: most well (a form of well)

    A popular aphorism says it best: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

  2. 2

    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.

noun

  1. 1

    The supreme effort one can make, or has made.

    I did my best.

  2. 2

    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.

  3. 3

    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...

verb

  1. 1

    To surpass in skill or achievement.

  2. 2

    To beat in a contest.

  3. 3

    colloquialHad best.

    It's getting late. You best get on home.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Best in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmeilleur, meilleure (superlative of the adjective good), mieux (superlative of the adverb well), élite, fleur, crème (person)
GermanBeste (superlative of the adjective good), am besten (superlative of the adverb well), Bester (person), Bestes (effort), übertreffen, besiegen (to beat)
Portuguesemelhor (superlative of the adjective good)
Spanishmejor (superlative of the adjective good), élite, flor, nata (person), sobrepasar, superar (to beat)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does best come from?

From Middle English best, beste, from Old English bezt, betest, from Proto-Germanic *batistaz.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after best