[Vocabulary] Is "winningest" a real word?

I googled it and something came up from merriam-webster online dictionary.
I don't know if this website is a credible source or not but I just wanna know from native speakers out there. Is it really?

akomidpls said:

I googled it and something came up from merriam-webster online dictionary.
I don't know if this website is a credible source or not but I just wanna know from native speakers out there. Is it really?

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Wow! My immediate reaction when I saw your question was "No!" However, I've also now looked it up in every online dictionary I use and it appears in all of them.

In my opinion, one of the most horrible-sounding words I've ever heard!!!

emsr2d2 said:

Wow! My immediate reaction when I saw your question was "No!" However, I've also now looked it up in every online dictionary I use and it appears in all of them.

In my opinion, one of the most horrible-sounding words I've ever heard!!!

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Agree on all counts. It seems it's an AmEng word and almost all references on the first page of google are to a sporting context (eg 'the winningest baseball team').

Amusingly, when you select 'Pages from the UK', the number of entries drops from over 500,000 to under 10,000, the first of which is headed 'Did you know that "winningest" is a word?':lol:

bertietheblue said:

Agree on all counts. It seems it's an AmEng word and almost all references on the first page of google are to a sporting context (eg 'the winningest baseball team').

Amusingly, when you select 'Pages from the UK', the number of entries drops from over 500,000 to under 10,000, the first of which is headed 'Did you know that "winningest" is a word?':lol:

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I've come across 'winningest' in the UK, but not with the obvious meaning - and in a jocular context (as if the speaker knew he was 'pushing the envelope'). It was used as the superlative of 'winning' in the sense of 'a winning smile' (nothing to do with victory [the Greek goodess of which, it occurs to me - returning to the sporting arena* - was Νικη (now more widely known as 'Nike'. The context was something like 'She has the winningest of smiles'.

(This usage struck me as rather charming, and I harumphed when I came across the sporting usage.)


*Oh, enough with the word associations already! Areia is the Portuguese for 'sand', and Roman arenas were covered with sand to soak up the blood and sweat.

b

Not a teacher.

It's sports English. At least in America. The team that wins the most can be called the winningest.

It is ugly, but it works.

I agree. It's a shocker!

In all of my years as a native English speaker, I have never used that word once.

Not once.

I'm flabbergasted. :lol:

I've seen it used mainly in sports or entertainment articles:
"Cheryl Holdridge certainly had the winningest smile of all the Mouseketeers."
"Ch. Chin-Up White Tie for Dinner took Best of Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Show, making him the winnningest Great Dane in the history of the breed."

"Winningest" does sound awkward when spoken, but then again I always stumbled over "Isthmus of Panama", too. :lol:

Ouisch said:

"Winningest" does sound awkward when spoken, but then again I always stumbled over "Isthmus of Panama", too. :lol:

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That's why we dug a big hole in it. :-D