foremost

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

Also spelled fore-most

US /ˈfɔrˌmoʊst/ UK /ˈfɔːməʊst/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
most prominent in rank, importance, or position

She is the foremost authority on medieval manuscripts in the country.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · most prominent in rank,... leading chief principal primary preeminent paramount first supreme

Opposites

last least lowest hindmost secondary

Word family

Related forms fore former first

Etymology

From Old English formest ('first, earliest'), a double superlative of fore (with -m- of the Germanic superlative plus -est), later reshaped by association with most. Not literally containing the word most.

formest Old English *frumô Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# foremost

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈfɔrˌmoʊst/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈfɔːməʊst/

## Meanings
1. most prominent in rank, importance, or position

## Examples
- She is the foremost authority on medieval manuscripts in the country.

## Synonyms
- leading
- chief
- principal
- primary
- preeminent
- paramount
- first
- supreme

## Antonyms
- last
- least
- lowest
- hindmost
- secondary

## Related Forms
- fore
- former
- first

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: formest
- Root: *frumô

## Etymology
From Old English formest ('first, earliest'), a double superlative of fore (with -m- of the Germanic superlative plus -est), later reshaped by association with most. Not literally containing the word most.

## AI Etymology
Foremost comes from Old English formest ('first, earliest'), a double superlative of fore (with -m- of the Germanic superlative plus -est), later reshaped by association with most. Not literally containing the word most. The historical trail runs through Old English formest and Proto-Germanic *frumô. Morphologically, the surface form is analyzable into prefixes, suffixes, compounds, or participial endings that carry part of the history. In modern use it means most prominent in rank, importance, or position. Related forms include fore, former, first.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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