Meanings
prepositional phrase
alternative at the least · alternative at the very least · alternative atleast
- focusAt a minimum or lower limit.
I couldn't count them all, but I think there must have been at least 500 people in attendance.
1 more example
So Martha hid herself, and in came little Bob [Cratchit], the father, with at least three feet of comforter exclusive of the fringe, hanging down before him; and his thread-bare clothes darned up and brushed, to look seasonable; and Tiny Tim upon his shoulder.
1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Three. The Second of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, pages 89–90 - In any event; anyway.
You could even be discovered, become a movie star, or at least see one.
1997 May 14, Brian Helgeland, Curtis Hanson, L.A. Confidential, spoken by Sid Hudgens (Danny DeVito), Regency Enterprises; distributed by Warner Bros.
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbif nothing else (‘leastwise’ is informal and ‘leastways’ is colloquial)
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishæt lǣstan
- Middle Englishat leste
- Englishat least
From Middle English at leste, from Old English æt lǣstan.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek γε
- γε (ge)anyway
Arabic عَلَى اَلْأَقَلّ, عَلَى الأَقَلِّ
- عَلَى اَلْأَقَلّ (ʕalā l-ʔaqall)at a lower limit
- عَلَى الأَقَلِّ (ʕalā l-ʔaqalli)anyway
Basque gutxienez
- gutxienezat a lower limit
Bulgarian поне́, най-ма́лко
- поне́ (poné)at a lower limit
- най-ма́лко (naj-málko)at a lower limit
Catalan almenys, pel cap baix
- almenysat a lower limit
- pel cap baixat a lower limit
- tanmateixanyway
- almenysanyway
Chinese Cantonese 至少, 起碼 /起码
- 至少 (zi³ siu²)at a lower limit
- 起碼 /起码 (hei² maa⁵)at a lower limit
Chinese Mandarin 至少, 頂少 /顶少
- 至少 (zhìshǎo)at a lower limit
- 頂少 /顶少 (dǐngshǎo)at a lower limit
- 起碼 /起码 (qǐmǎ)at a lower limit
Czech alespoň, přinejmenším
- alespoňat a lower limit
- přinejmenšímat a lower limit
- nejméněat a lower limit
- při nejmenšímat a lower limit
- aspoňat a lower limit
Danish mindst, i det mindste
- mindstat a lower limit
- i det mindsteanyway
Dutch minstens, tenminste
- minstensat a lower limit
- tenminsteat a lower limit
- althansat a lower limit
- op zijn minstat a lower limit
- althansanyway
- tenminsteanyway
Esperanto minimume, almenaŭ
- minimumeat a lower limit
- almenaŭat a lower limit
Estonian vähemalt
- vähemaltat a lower limit
Finnish ainakin, vähintään
- ainakinat a lower limit
- vähintäänat a lower limit
- sentäänanyway
French au moins, au minimum
- au moinsat a lower limit
- au minimumat a lower limit
- du moinsanyway
- en tout casanyway
German mindestens, zumindest
- mindestensat a lower limit
- zumindestat a lower limit
- wenigstensat a lower limit
- immerhinanyway
Greek τουλάχιστον
- τουλάχιστον (touláchiston)at a lower limit
Hebrew לפחות, לכל הפחות
- לפחות (lefaxot)at a lower limit
- לכל הפחות (lekhol hapakhot)at a lower limit
- כִּכְלוֹת הַכֹּל (kikhlot hakol)anyway
Hindi कम से कम
- कम से कम (kam se kam)at a lower limit
Hungarian legalább, minimum
- legalábbat a lower limit
- minimumat a lower limit
- legalábbanyway
- legalábbisanyway
Icelandic að minnsta kosti, að minnsta kosti
- að minnsta kostiat a lower limit
- að minnsta kostianyway
Indonesian minimal, setidaknya
- minimalat a lower limit
- setidaknyaat a lower limit
Irish ar a laghad, ar aon nós
- ar a laghadat a lower limit
- ar aon nósanyway
Italian almeno, per lo meno
- almenoat a lower limit
- per lo menoat a lower limit
- almenoanyway
- se non altroanyway
Japanese せめて, 少なくとも
- せめて (semete)at a lower limit
- 少なくとも (sukunakutomo)at a lower limit
- とにかく (tonikaku)anyway
- 何しろ (nani shiro)anyway
Korean 적어도, 최소한
- 적어도 (jeogeodo)at a lower limit
- 최소한 (choesohan)at a lower limit
- 어쨌든 (eojjaetdeun)anyway
Latin saltem, certē
- saltemat a lower limit
- certēanyway
Latvian vismaz, vismaz
- vismazat a lower limit
- vismazanyway
Norwegian Bokmål minst, i alle fall
- minstat a lower limit
- i alle fallanyway
- i det minsteanyway
Persian اقلًا, حداقل
- اقلًا (aqalan)at a lower limit
- حداقل (hadd-e aqall)at a lower limit
- دستکم (dast-e kam)at a lower limit
Polish co najmniej, przynajmniej
- co najmniejat a lower limit
- przynajmniejat a lower limit
- chociażat a lower limit
- bodajat a lower limit
- przynajmniejanyway
Portuguese ao menos, pelo menos
- ao menosat a lower limit
- pelo menosat a lower limit
- no mínimoat a lower limit
- sequerat a lower limit
- mesmo assimanyway
- ao menosanyway
- pelo menosanyway
Romanian cel puțin, măcar
- cel puținat a lower limit
- măcarat a lower limit
Russian по ме́ньшей ме́ре, по кра́йней ме́ре
- по ме́ньшей ме́ре (po ménʹšej mére)at a lower limit
- по кра́йней ме́ре (po krájnej mére)at a lower limit
- хотя́ бы (xotjá by)at a lower limit
- как ми́нимум (kak mínimum)at a lower limit
- в любо́м слу́чае (v ljubóm slúčaje)anyway
Scottish Gaelic co-dhiù, aig a' char as lugha
- co-dhiùat a lower limit
- aig a' char as lughaat a lower limit
- co-dhiùanyway
Spanish por lo menos, al menos
- por lo menosat a lower limit
- al menosat a lower limit
- a lo menos/menorat a lower limit
- como mínimo/mínimum/pocoat a lower limit
- cuando menosat a lower limit
- siquieraat a lower limit
- no menos deat a lower limit
- en todo casoat a lower limit
- aun asíanyway
- al menosanyway
Swedish åtminstone, i alla fall
- åtminstoneat a lower limit
- i alla fallat a lower limit
- i varje fallat a lower limit
- minstat a lower limit
- i varje fallanyway
- hur som helstanyway
Thai อย่างน้อย
- อย่างน้อย (yàang nɔ́ɔi)at a lower limit
Turkish en az, bari
- en azat a lower limit
- barianyway
Ukrainian щонайме́нше, прина́ймні
- щонайме́нше (ščonajménše)at a lower limit
- прина́ймні (prynájmni)at a lower limit
- прина́ймні (prynájmni)anyway
- у вся́кому ра́зі (u vsjákomu rázi)anyway
- хоча́ би (xočá by)anyway
Urdu کم سے کم
- کم سے کم (kam se kam)at a lower limit
Vietnamese ít nhất, tối thiểu
- ít nhấtat a lower limit
- tối thiểuat a lower limit
Welsh o leiaf
- o leiafat a lower limit
Yiddish לפּחות
- לפּחות (lepokhes)at a lower limit
Cite this entry
APA
at least. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/at%20least
MLA
“at least.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/at%20least. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “at least,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/at%20least.
Source: at least on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.