foremost
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.the most important, famous, or successful person or thing in a particular area.
adj.of the highest rank, importance, or reputation within a specific field or group.
Simple“She is considered the foremost expert on climate change in the country.”
In context“As the foremost authority on Renaissance architecture, his endorsement of the restoration project was essential for securing government funding.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
adj.the part of something that is furthest forward.
adj.positioned at the very front in terms of physical space.
Simple“The foremost soldiers in the parade carried the ceremonial flags.”
In context“The foremost section of the vessel sustained the most damage during the collision with the pier.”
- 03 C2 Proficiency
adj.the part of a ship that is closest to the front (the bow).
adj.situated at or closest to the bow of a ship.
Simple“The sailors gathered on the foremost deck to watch for land.”
In context“The foremost mast was reinforced with steel cables to withstand the gale-force winds expected during the Atlantic crossing.”
UsageCommonly used in maritime contexts to describe structural parts of a ship.
- 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
adv.used to highlight the most important point, usually in the phrase 'first and foremost'.
adv.in the first or most prominent place; primarily used within the fixed idiomatic expression 'first and foremost'.
Simple“He is a teacher first and foremost, even though he also writes books.”
In context“The charity's mission is, first and foremost, to provide clean drinking water to displaced families in the region.”
SynonymsAntonyms
“These small towns put on events that are for the community first and foremost." As I looked around Ulverston, the national debates that have shaped Pride in recent years felt distant.”
“Yet she has always described herself first and foremost as a songwriter.”
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 adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.