beatenestadj.
U.S. dialect.
Most excellent or splendid; most unusual.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > quality of being the best > [adjective]
highestOE
bestOE
firstlOE
greatest?c1225
of the besta1350
premiera1500
paramount1530
supremec1550
supreme1571
primer1589
top1647
nulli secundus1742
bestest1751
first class1819
beatemest1831
par excellence1839
première1844
first rate1853
beatenest1860
blue ribbon1860
optimum1885
optimal1890
class A1906
all-star1908
grade A1911
five-star1931
mostest1936
tip-topmost1937
the end1950
the most1953
1860 Harper's Mag. Dec. 135 A countryman..attracted by the white slab..exclaimed, ‘Well, if this ain't the beatenest town I ever saw!’
1874 E. Eggleston Circuit Rider xvi. 147 I reckon I am the beatin'est man to ax questions in this neck of timber.
1884 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Huckleberry Finn xiii. 106 It's the beatenest thing I ever struck.
1889 Harper's Mag. Dec. 120/1 Thet thar rock house o' his'n,..I 'low it's the beatenes' house in creation.
1909 ‘E. C. Hall’ Aunt Jane of Kentucky ii. 33 Of the preachers that ever I heard, he certainly is the beatenest.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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adj.1860