DictionaryAI

uppermost

USUP-ur-mohst/ˈʌpɚˌmoʊst/UKUP-uh-mohst/ˈʌpəməʊst/

4 meanings of uppermost

Practice

  1. 1
    adjective
    Positioned at or nearest the top of something.

    The uppermost shelf held books no one had touched in years.

    Climbers paused just below the uppermost ridge to catch their breath.

    Similarhighest, topmost, top

    Oppositelowest, bottom, bottommost

    Note

    A Middle English compound of upper and the superlative suffix -most, so the top position is built into the word. Strictly, that means it does not grade: nothing is more uppermost than the uppermost. Writers still reach for intensifiers, as in "more uppermost in my mind" and "the goals most uppermost," but the bare word is cleaner, and those phrases lean toward the "most important" meaning.

  2. 2
    adjective
    Highest in rank or importance.

    The safety of the passengers remained uppermost throughout the rescue.

    Profit was uppermost in the negotiations, overshadowing every other issue.

    Similarparamount, foremost, predominant, dominant, primary

    Oppositesecondary, minor

    Note

    Importance usually sits after the noun or verb: a concern is uppermost, or it is uppermost in someone's mind, a phrase for whatever dominates a person's thinking at the moment. The word also stands before a noun, as in "the uppermost problem," where it means simply the chief or most pressing one. Either way it names a single winner among competing concerns.

  3. 3
    adverb
    In the highest position; on top of everything else.

    He arranged the documents with the signed contract uppermost.

    When the crates were stacked, the lightest always rode uppermost.

Less common meaning

  1. 4
    adjectiverare
    Superlative of upper.

    The uppermost windows of the tower caught the morning light.

    Snow lingered on the uppermost slopes well into spring.

    Note

    As a plain grammatical superlative this reading is rare, because most uses fit the "topmost" adjective better. Taken strictly, it grades upper itself, which ranges from simply "at a higher level" to "on higher ground, further inland, or more northerly." So the uppermost slopes can mean the highest ones, and the uppermost stretch of a region can mean the part furthest upland.

Use it in a sentence

Write your own sentence with uppermost, and AI will tell you whether it fits and which meaning you used.

Origin

From Middle English upper-moste, equivalent to upper combined with the suffix -most.