to say the least
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Euphemism to imply that the reality is more extreme.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
To produce the same lumpy cheese sauce dish would be morbid, to say the least, and not exactly a Sunday - lunch menu.
Det Con Steve Roberts added: ‘ It is unusual to say the least, the fact that one of these women was holding a baby at the time.’
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Euphemism (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “to say the least” mean?
Euphemism to imply that the reality is more extreme.
Is “to say the least” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.