“At its best” — All You Need to Know About This Phrase
shares
-
Share
What makes the English language interesting and colorful is its use of idioms or idiomatic expressions.
An idiomatic expression is a phrase whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meaning of its constituent elements.
One of these idioms we aim to learn is “at its best.” So sit back, relax, and let’s start exploring this idiomatic phrase.
Nội Dung Chính
What is the meaning of “at its best”?
Being “at its best” means that the highest possible standard of quality has been reached. This phrase is best used when something shows its most attractive, productive, or impressive qualities, when someone is in his most effective or intelligent state, or when something is at its peak.
Word meanings can be hard to digest at times because they often need larger contexts to be clearly understood.
While dictionaries do help us make sense of every word that has ever existed in history, they can only do so much.
“At its best” is an idiomatic expression, which means that it is something that many native speakers use like a workhorse.
Why so? This is due to the fact that idioms offer figurative meanings – those that are not close to what it looks like on the surface.
That is, idioms are actually expressions that bear non-literal meanings. Apparently, they are used to make language expression richer and way more unique.
For example, the phrase “to turn the other cheek” is something that suggests an entirely far-off meaning from the expression per se.
It actually means “to walk away” or “ignore” a despicable act done by another person so things don’t get worse.
In business settings, for instance, “to touch base” is also a very common idiom that we can use to say that we want to reconnect or sync up with someone.
In case you think this expression is useful, we have also covered 20 other cool ways to say “touch base” in business contexts.
Despite being common, at least for native speakers, “at its best” can be hard to fully make sense of if and when one is only starting to learn English.
It could be used to describe people or things that perform or behave in an extraordinary way. It can also be used to refer to events in general.
We use the expression “at its best” in oral or written conversations when we want to mean that the highest quality of standard has been reached.
Examples:
The mystery-drama “Lovers in the Sun” is literary ingenuity
at its best
.
Have you read the latest book of H.G. Wells? It’s allegory at its best!
“At its best” can be used also to mean that something is showing its most attractive and impressive qualities in that particular instance.
Example:
This beautiful resort is
at its best
in summer, when the sun is glorious all day.
We have just arrived from the latest outing of our group this year and I’m proud to say it was a multisport backpacking event at its best.
There are also times when the expression is used to mean that someone or a person for that matter, is feeling that he or she is most intelligent or effective.
Example:
She caught me at the time when my mood is
at its best
, in the morning, after shower and breakfast.
Having sold the last unit of our high-rise condominiums before the year ended, required incredible talents of marketing at its best.
Now that the meaning of “at its best” has been laid out in detail, we could now take a look at how exactly we should use it in a sentence.
Using “at its best” in a sentence
As mentioned, “at its best” is an idiomatic expression whose implied meaning is likely far from what it looks like.
In a nutshell, “at its best” is headed by the preposition “at,” followed by the possessive determiner “its,” and the adjective “best.”
The “at” here is a proposition that is used to refer to time or space. “Its” is the possessive form of neuter or genderless singular nouns.
Meanwhile, “best” is the superlative degree form of comparison for the word “good” and simply the exact opposite of “worst.”
In a deeper sense, “at its best” is called a prepositional phrase in the field of syntax or the study of word order and structure that make up a sentence.
We are free to use “at its best” in all parts of the sentence, such as the beginning, middle, and end.
“At its best” at the beginning of a sentence
“At its best” may also be used as an absolute construction to start off a sentence while modifying the succeeding clause.
An absolute construction is a special type of sentence-element formation that defies the rules of grammar. It may also be referred to as a fragment at times.
Example:
At its best, fake news can twist history and derail the young.
In the example above, we can understand that “at its best” sarcastically refers to the perils of fake news in the succeeding clause.
“At its best” at the end of a sentence
We may also use “at its best” as an adverbial phrase after a linking verb, which would bring it further to the tail-end part of the sentence.
Example:
The ideal time to visit this forest is in autumn when nature is at its best.
In the example above, “at its best” is also be used to show that something is showing its most attractive or impressive qualities.
“At its best” in the middle of a sentence
We can also place “at its best” somewhere in the middle of the sentence to modify a noun, particularly a gerund in the following example.
Here’s an example showing “at its best” used to mean that someone is feeling most intelligent or effective.
Example:
If you want to hear storytelling at its best, see my uncle when he is drunk with his favorite bottle of whiskey.
If you know what a gerund is but easily confuse it with a participle, the difference between a gerund and a participle is actually not that hard to spot.
While a participle can either be an adverb or adjective, a gerund can only act as a noun in a sentence.
In case the series of explanations and examples above don’t suffice, worry no more because here are some more sentences that make use of “at its best.”
Examples:
That rendition of Tchaikovsky’s concerto is simply virtuosity at its best.
Watching his drawings is like watching anime at its best.
Motherhood, at its best, is really life-hanging.
Listening to my uncle tell a story is listening to storytelling at its best.
Her narration of the story was an example of investigative journalism, at its best.
“At its best” vs. “at it’s best”
“It’s” is the shortened form and should be used when the sentence would normally say “it is.” The apostrophe indicates that a letter was omitted.
On the other hand, the “its” without the apostrophe is the possessive determiner like my, her, or his for singular neuter nouns.
Example:
Her face defines beauty at its best. (correct)
Her face defines beauty at it’s best. (incorrect)
Other ways of saying “at its best”
“At its best” is synonymous with a number of adjectives like: finest, foremost, most, highest, most excellent, greatest, outstanding, pre-eminent among others.
Other speakers and writers do not want to use the phrase “at its best” repeatedly so they tend to experiment with other expressions instead.
The phrases listed below could amply substitute “at its best,” leaving the same thought or idea in the process.
At its foremost
When something is “at its foremost,” it simply means that it is “at its best or top quality.” This can be used to refer to events and performances.
Example:
Her rendition of the song “The Prayer” popularized by Andrea Bocelli was singing at its foremost.
At its finest
“At its finest” can be used to talk about the best there is in a certain event or idea, such as “sarcasm” in the next example.
Example:
This movie depicts sarcasm at its finest.
Best-case scenario
“Best-case scenario” can be used to talk about the best possible outcome of a situation or to say that something could not be any better.
Example:
The best-case scenario would be that it should have just happened yesterday.
All its splendor
“All its splendor” can be used to suggest that something is in the best condition it has to offer.
Example:
See China in all its splendor in this film by Cameron.
Quintessential
“Quintessential” can be used to say that someone is representing the perfect or most typical example of a quality or class.
Example:
Tony is a quintessential New Yorker because New York is a quirky city.
Frequently Asked Questions on “At its best”
How do you say that something is at its best?
There are many similar ways to say something is “at its best”. Some of them include “in a perfect state,” “in its highest quality,” “in its high,” “premium condition,” and “in its highest position.”
What does “nature at its best” mean?
To say that nature is at its best means that nature is offering its best possible qualities or most powerful stance. For example, “nature is at its best in the summertime” suggests that nature is most attractive in summer.
What do we mean by “at your best”?
When someone says you are “at your best,” that person means you are showing your best characteristics, which include beauty, intelligence, or attitude. At other times, it can also be used to suggest sarcasm, especially in reference to negative behavior.
Conclusion
The beauty of the English language is its set of linguistic phenomena that enrich it and give its speakers infinite possibilities of expression.
“At its best” is a phrase that may not be commonly used in daily conversations but is very helpful in amplifying a message and in conveying them artistically.
Learning a thing or two about this idiomatic expression enables us to use the phrase “at its best” confidently in our spoken and written communications.
Hey fellow Linguaholics! It’s me, Marcel. I am the proud owner of linguaholic.com. Languages have always been my passion and I have studied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics and Sinology at the University of Zurich. It is my utmost pleasure to share with all of you guys what I know about languages and linguistics in general.
