Refine this word faster

Stronger alternatives Opposite tone Use in context Cross-language nuance

Foremost

//ˈfɔː.məʊst// adj, adv, name

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Positioned in front of (all) others in space, most forward. not-comparable

    "She prankes not by hir mistresse side, she preases not to bée / The foremost of the companie, as when she erst was frée."

  2. 2
    Coming before (all) others in time. not-comparable

    "[…] of both them, she / (By Pallas counsell) was to haue the grace / Of foremost greeting."

  3. 3
    Of the highest rank or position; of the greatest importance; of the highest priority. not-comparable

    "The exhibition features works by the country’s foremost artists."

  4. 4
    Closest to the bow. not-comparable

    "I let fall the tiller, turned my back on them, and sat down on the foremost thwart."

Adjective
  1. 1
    preceding all others in spatial position wordnet
  2. 2
    ranking above all others wordnet
  3. 3
    situated closest to the bow wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    In front, prominently forward. not-comparable

    "No Man hath more nicely observed our Climate, than the Bookseller who bought the Copy of this Work; He knows to a Tittle what Subjects will best go off in a dry Year, and which it is proper to expose foremost, when the Weather-glass is fallen to much Rain."

  2. 2
    First in time. not-comparable

    "c. 1618, Philip Massinger, Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, The Old Law, London: Edward Archer, 1656, Act III, Scene 1, p. 41, Alwayes the worst goes foremost, so twill prove I hope"

  3. 3
    Most importantly. not-comparable

    "[…] Mrs. Nickleby, with the utmost sincerity, gave vent to her sorrows after her own peculiar fashion of considering herself foremost,"

Adverb
  1. 1
    before anything else wordnet
  2. 2
    prominently forward wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A village in Alberta, Canada.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Old English formest, fyrmest (“earliest, first, most prominent”), from Proto-Germanic *frumistaz, from the locative stem *fur-, *fr- + the superlative suffix *-umistaz, stem ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pr-. The suffix *-umistaz was a compound suffix, created from the rarer comparative suffix *-umô (as in Old English fruma) + the regular superlative suffix *-istaz (English -est); *-umô in turn is from Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-. Cognate with Old Frisian formest, Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌿𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (frumists). See for, first and Old English fruma for more. Partially cognate to primus, from Proto-Indo-European *pr- + Latin superlative suffix -imus, from Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-. A comparative former was back-formed analogically, leaving the m from *-umô in place. Later the Old English suffix complex -(u)m-est was conflated with the word most through folk etymology, so that the word is now interpreted as fore + -most.

Etymology 2

From Old English formest, fyrmest (“earliest, first, most prominent”), from Proto-Germanic *frumistaz, from the locative stem *fur-, *fr- + the superlative suffix *-umistaz, stem ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pr-. The suffix *-umistaz was a compound suffix, created from the rarer comparative suffix *-umô (as in Old English fruma) + the regular superlative suffix *-istaz (English -est); *-umô in turn is from Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-. Cognate with Old Frisian formest, Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌿𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (frumists). See for, first and Old English fruma for more. Partially cognate to primus, from Proto-Indo-European *pr- + Latin superlative suffix -imus, from Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-. A comparative former was back-formed analogically, leaving the m from *-umô in place. Later the Old English suffix complex -(u)m-est was conflated with the word most through folk etymology, so that the word is now interpreted as fore + -most.

See also for "foremost"

Synonyms Antonyms Rhymes Sentences Translate Word Type Pronunciation Word Forms

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciation

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: foremost