bar none
- idiom
- Informal
- He is the best player on the team, bar none.
- the best, bar none
- ever seen, bar none
- the most important, bar none
This is the worst room in the building bar none.
- This is the worst room in the building bar none.
- You have to support that headline in every single case bar none.
- Heart disease is the biggest killer on the planet at the moment, bar none.
- And I think Keynes was one of the best authors about investing in financial markets, bar none.
- My desire and and my family's desire to see me well, again, yeah, absolutely took precedence, bar none.
- But this weekend these leftists best performance in a leading role, bar none.
- But this answer when I went and I saw her do her thing is bar none, the number one, so interesting.
- Absolute bar none, no questions asked, coolest principal's office on the face of the planet.
Examples
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This restaurant serves the best pizza in town, bar none.
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I mean, she is the best creative director I have ever seen, bar none.
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And this is the most important, bar none.
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Rule number three is the most important rule, bar none.
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The best in the country, bar none.
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Teaching is still the best job, bar none.
Blog text (20) -
Here's to Harry, the best, bar none.
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Well, he is, bar none, the finest actor working in martial arts movies today.
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In my experience, it is the best offline blog editor for Windows, bar none.
Blog text (14) -
It's the best gadget of its kind, bar none, and something you should experience if you're an avid reader.
Blog text (21)
Synonyms
A strong way to say that something is exactly or at least what you expect
Only top quality is acceptable
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally combines 'bar' (meaning 'except' or 'excluding') with 'none' to give 'except none' → 'without exception', so the meaning is derivable if a learner knows the exclusional sense of 'bar'. However, that sense is somewhat formal/archaic and many B1 learners mainly know 'bar' as a physical obstruction, rule, or pub, so the composition is not fully predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
Bar none may come from the old use of the word bar, which meant 'to exclude' or 'except' someone. So saying bar none is like saying 'no one is excluded', and it now means 'without exception'.