at bottom
3
6.6
- idiom
- Formal
:
en el fondo
- She seemed confident, but at bottom, she was unsure of her decision.
- at bottom, identical
And so he examines it in in the course of saying, well, we don't really understand that well at bottom, what's going on with causality.
- And so he examines it in in the course of saying, well, we don't really understand that well at bottom, what's going on with causality.
- That the doorway to that is to recognize that no one really at bottom made themselves and and therefore everyone.
Examples
-
One might say that morality, at bottom, requires that one care about or have certain feelings about an issue.
Academic text (1999) -
All, however, agreed that it was at bottom a good deal like the American Revolution, only closer to home.
Academic text (1991) -
The first step is to get together in dealing with what is at bottom a common problem.
Academic text (2003) -
What I am trying to say is that at bottom there is the question of principle: What is human value?
Academic text (2001) -
Our debate is, at bottom, about how it should be taught.
Academic text (1991) -
But then you went on to say, but of course, at bottom it was about the occupation.
-
The current concerns about the American Political Science Review are, at bottom, concerns about the academic discipline of political science.
Academic text (2001) -
At bottom, the New Sovereigntists question whether international law is about anything more than international power.
Academic text (2000) -
At bottom, this calculation also assumes the good sense and virtue of the people.
Academic text (1998) -
If the American dream is to come true and to abide with us, it will, at bottom, depend on the people themselves.
Academic text (2014)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To say the main or most important point
745
3.4
Mostly in the main or basic sense
181
3.9
In a basic way that shows what is most important
117
3.5
In your real feelings or beliefs that you do not show
97
5.3
Used to say the main point while ignoring small details
77
3.5
Really being a certain kind of person despite how someone seems
1
5.9
In a way that affects the basic ideas or structure
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
at + bottom
The phrase combines the spatial meaning of 'bottom' (the lowest part) with the locative 'at' and is commonly extended metaphorically to mean 'fundamentally' or 'in essence'. This physical-to-abstract mapping is cross-linguistically common (e.g. Spanish 'en el fondo', French 'au fond') and is likely inferable by a B1 learner who knows the constituents.
Etymology
At bottom may come from the simple image of looking into a jar or box: the true, heavy things settle at the bottom, under all the rest. So when we say at bottom we mean 'basically' or 'in reality'.