How to Use lowest common denominator in a Sentence

lowest common denominator

noun
  • This is not a time for lowest common denominator, watered down reforms.
    — CBS News, 14 June 2020
  • This type of attack is an appeal to the lowest common denominator in our public debate.
    — Emma Colton, Washington Examiner, 15 Oct. 2020
  • Real estate has already been brought down to the lowest common denominator — a website entry with a price.
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 1 Mar. 2026
  • Yet both are so smart and complex in their own ways, refusing to talk down to its audience and pander to the lowest common denominator.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 22 July 2023
  • But there are other ways to spiral down to the lowest common denominator, and then lower and lower, and there’s no relief, and there’s no bottom.
    — Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 19 Nov. 2021
  • The power of the press was being squandered in an unseemly contest for the lowest common denominator.
    — James M. Lundberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Mar. 2020
  • At its lowest common denominator, life during a pandemic is a series of risk-reward choices.
    — David Wharton, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2020
  • The lowest common denominator of the toxic workplace is anywhere that employees do not feel safe, supported or heard.
    — Mark C. Perna, Forbes, 1 June 2022
  • Even the lowest common denominator of news — simply being interesting — has been tossed aside.
    — Rich Lowry, National Review, 20 Oct. 2020
  • But for that, the industry needs to change from chasing the lowest common denominator, fake scale, and cheap CPMs.
    — Isaac Mizrahi, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2023
  • Affordable to most, a burger and fries spiked with ketchup was a democratic, delicious lowest common denominator meal.
    — Amy Bentley, Smithsonian, 4 June 2018
  • Father and son both dislike the lowest common denominator of … anything, including beer.
    — Lauren Delgado, OrlandoSentinel.com, 13 June 2018
  • The drumettes and flats are golden, juicy and crispy, bar-food perfection; the glaze, however, is sticky and sweet, a mumbo sauce aiming for the lowest common denominator.
    — Tim Carman, Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2023
  • Kids entertainment doesn’t have to be dumbed down, and Kao plays to the lowest common denominator, both in terms of its story and generic gameplay.
    — Mitch Wallace, Forbes, 28 May 2022
  • There are some decent pop songs on locket, but Madison Beer’s albums continue to feel like a lowest common denominator of trends.
    — Grace Robins-Somerville, Pitchfork, 27 Jan. 2026
  • Facing negative headwinds, many businesses instinctively play to the lowest common denominator and see change as a tax or burden to be dealt with.
    — Ryan Roslansky, Fortune, 20 Mar. 2023
  • Gun control advocates point out that state standards differ, and say the reciprocity would play to the lowest common denominator.
    — Todd J. Gillman and Joseph Morton, Dallas News, 6 June 2022
  • That means the only type of content that is financially viable is the lowest common denominator content that appeals to mass audiences.
    — Yola Robert, Forbes, 19 May 2022
  • Too often, chefs and managers aim for the lowest common denominator, trying to appeal to everyone and in reality pleasing no one.
    — Sean Timberlake, Sacbee.com, 20 Jan. 2026
  • The apartment’s living room was decorated in a kind of lowest common denominator of urban style, with a black modernist couch and stainless-steel appliances.
    — Emily Witt, The New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2020
  • Where to Eat The usual challenge of dining around Times Square — how to find a restaurant that’s not aimed at the lowest common denominator?
    — New York Times, 13 June 2018
  • The culture war is the lowest common denominator expression of the right’s binding anti-liberalism.
    — Zack Beauchamp, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
  • The beef and bean filling was seasoned and spiced in a way that almost certainly a legion of food scientists had engineered to reach maximum appeal to the lowest common denominator.
    — Paul Stephen, San Antonio Express-News, 21 Dec. 2022
  • Publishers, meanwhile, say the genre represents the lowest common denominator in a market desperate for a bit more literary fiction.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 14 Mar. 2025
  • The agreement represents a lowest common denominator compromise on gun violence, not a complete sea change in Congress.
    — Alan Fram, BostonGlobe.com, 12 June 2022
  • So, therefore, lowest common denominator international policies tended to come out the other end.
    — CBS News, 6 Nov. 2019
  • Cinemas are currently offering a pretty easy program tailored to the lowest common denominator that simply gets the audience only used to event films.
    — Alex Ritman, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Feb. 2022
  • The regular Quest headset is essentially the lowest common denominator—or the minimum viable product—to keep the cost down.
    — Samuel Axon, Ars Technica, 6 June 2023
  • These are simply unsatisfactory, one and all, with the cheapest ingredients and lowest common denominator of taste.
    — Larry Olmsted, Forbes, 4 Jan. 2022
  • And so, with the new NBA season finally upon us, here is a preview of the lowest common denominator beefs that will be sure to dominate coverage this year.
    — Corbin Smith, Rolling Stone, 24 Oct. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lowest common denominator.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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