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at most

at most

68 1.3
No more than a set number or amount
  • idiom
translation icon : como máximo
  • We can take at most three pieces of luggage on the flight.
  • at most one
  • at most two
  • at most three

But AT squared is at most a cubed OK.

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Examples

  • Six weeks at most.

  • Two or three days at most.

  • And I would make a video, you know, at most once a week, but usually maybe once a month or twice a month.

  • We'll lose half a day at most.

  • Therefore, 2 students at most can apply to this university in a year.

    Academic text (2013)
  • We're talking about 15 or 20 good pop hits, at most.

  • Most chemicals have one solid form, or a couple at most, depending on who you ask and how you count.

  • I'd suggest two days' drive at most.

  • I probably had an hour at most before I'd see the police chief.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Ah, three to four years at most, I'm guessing.

Synonyms

at the most
vsat most
34 2.0

No more than the number or amount given

uses a shorter form without the article to state the maximum

Antonyms

1.0

Not less than a certain amount or number

How Much

at the most
34 2.0
at most
68 1.3

Surface Forms

at most positive

Morphology

at + most

The phrase 'at most' directly combines 'at' (marking a point/limit) with 'most' (the greatest amount), yielding the compositional meaning 'not more than' or an upper bound. This quantifying pattern is regular and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will reliably infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

At most comes from the image of a top mark on a cup or ruler that shows the highest amount. You can fill or count up to that point, the most, but not go past it, so at most means 'not more than'.