upmost
upmost Lexical Profile
upmost Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Greatest or highest in degree, amount, or importance (widely used as a nonstandard variant of "utmost").
"She handled the sensitive negotiations with the upmost care and professionalism."
Situated in the highest or top physical position; uppermost.
"The ancient manuscripts were stored safely on the upmost shelf of the library archive."
Word Nuance & Usage
"Upmost" literally refers to being in the highest physical position (a shorter variant of "uppermost"), though in modern informal usage it is frequently used as an eggcorn or variant for "utmost" (meaning greatest in degree or importance, as in "of the utmost importance"). In formal writing, "uppermost" is preferred for physical position and "utmost" for degree.
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in Middle English from "up" and the superlative suffix "-most", which developed from the Old English double superlative suffix "-mest" by folk-etymological association with the word "most".