bottom of the barrel

English

Noun

the bottom of the barrel

1. (figurative) The position of a person or thing of low quality or poor character.

   He went from being at the bottom of the barrel to being an inch above the bottom of the barrel.

   • 2007, Robert Reginald, Douglas Menville, Forgotten Fantasy: Issue #2, December 1970, page 32:

     Here is the first new collection of Rohmer stories in years, and they are the absolute bottom of the barrel! Detective stories, romances, war stories — everything but the "strange stories" advertised in the title.

   • 2010, Donna Wheeler et al., Tunisia, page 212:

     The bottom of the barrel as far as accommodation in the Ville Nouvelle goes.

   • 2023 March 5, Miranda Sawyer, quoting Jason Williamson, “Sleaford Mods: ‘The UK is like a crazy golf course – all we’ve got left are landmarks’”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     I know it’s hard work in our game, and you get to a point, 15 years into a career, where you’re not bringing in much dough. But it’s proper bottom of the barrel, a celebrity Britain’s Got Talent.

Derived terms

• scrape the bottom of the barrel