minimum

1. 1.

   the least possible

   “needed to enforce minimal standards”

   “her grades were minimal”

   “minimum wage”

   “a minimal charge for the service”

   Synonymsminimal

   Antonymsmaximum

   Similarborderlinenegligiblenominalstripped

Other forms of minimum

plural

minima

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about minimum

What does minimum mean?

minimum means "the smallest possible quantity". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in minimum?

minimum has 3 syllables: min-i-mum. The stress falls on "min". In IPA it is /ˈmɪnəməm/.

What is another word for minimum?

Close synonyms include lower limit, minimal. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

What is the opposite of minimum?

The recorded antonyms are maximum, maximum, maximum.

Is minimum a common word?

minimum is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.