bottom of the barrel

noun

The lowest possible level of a person or thing in terms of character or quality; also, a person or thing at such a level.

“He went from being at the bottom of the barrel to being an inch above the bottom of the barrel.”

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Meanings

nounthe bottom of the barrel
  1. derogatoryfigurativelyThe lowest possible level of a person or thing in terms of character or quality; also, a person or thing at such a level.

    He went from being at the bottom of the barrel to being an inch above the bottom of the barrel.

    3 more examples

    Here is the first new collection of Rohmer stories in years, and they are the absolute bottom of the barrel! Detective stories, romances, war stories — everything but the "strange stories" advertised in the title.

    2007, Robert Reginald, Douglas Menville, Forgotten Fantasy: Issue #2, December 1970, page 32

    The bottom of the barrel as far as accommodation in the Ville Nouvelle goes.

    2010, Donna Wheeler et al., Tunisia, page 212

    I know it’s hard work in our game, and you get to a point, 15 years into a career, where you’re not bringing in much dough. But it’s proper bottom of the barrel, a celebrity Britain’s Got Talent.

    2023 March 5, Miranda Sawyer, quoting Jason Williamson, “Sleaford Mods: ‘The UK is like a crazy golf course – all we’ve got left are landmarks’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

Translations

German unterste Schublade
  • unterste SchubladeTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

bottom of the barrel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bottom%20of%20the%20barrel

MLA

“bottom of the barrel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bottom%20of%20the%20barrel. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bottom of the barrel,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bottom%20of%20the%20barrel.

Source: bottom of the barrel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.