phrasal verb · neutral

make the best of

/meɪk ðə best əv/MAKE·the·BEST·of

speakingtask2

to deal with a bad or difficult situation as well as you can

Examples

We had no map, but we made the best of the situation and enjoyed the walk.

When flights were cancelled, passengers made the best of a bad day by exploring the airport city.

She made the best of a difficult childhood by studying hard.

Band 8 sentence

Although stranded overnight, the students made the best of the delay by organising impromptu study groups.

Collocations

  • make the best of a bad situation
  • make the best of it
  • having to make the best of

Word family

made the best of verb (past)making the best of gerund

Common mistakes

We should make best of it.We should make the best of it.

She made best the situation.She made the best of the situation.

Say it for a higher band

5make do6make the best of7+make the best of

Synonyms

make the most of

make do

Easily confused

make the most of

We had little time, so we made the most of our visit.

Related words

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In make …

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