topping

topping — adjective

  • toppingpositive
  • more toppingcomparative
  • most toppingsuperlative

1. at the very highest level in a particular field or activity, especially in sport

1.形容詞C1
釋義

at the very highest level in a particular field or activity, especially in sports, academic institutions, or competitive rankings.

例句

Asher's chess club is the topping team in the national youth league.

attributive use: topping + team

Many young athletes dream of playing for a topping Premier League club.

collocation: topping club

同義詞
  • top

    neutral, much more common; works both attributively and predictively

  • leading

    standard in modern English for rankings; carries no informal register

  • foremost

    more formal; implies not just rank but pre-eminence

  • premier

    formal; emphasises prestige rather than numerical rank

反義詞
  • lowest

    opposite in rank order

  • bottom

    opposite in competitive or institutional hierarchies

文法句型

topping + noun

用法筆記

Attributive only — used before a noun, not after a linking verb. You would not say "This team is topping." This sense is largely restricted to British informal English and is less common in modern speech than synonyms like "top" or "leading."

常見錯誤

❌That school is topping.
✅That school is a topping institution.
💡'topping' in this sense is attributive only and must come before a noun.
❌The topping player in the world is from Brazil.
✅The top player in the world is from Brazil.
💡for most modern contexts, use 'top' instead of 'topping'; 'topping' sounds dated.

2. extremely good in quality; of the highest standard — used to describe an experie

2.形容詞C1
釋義

extremely good in quality; of the highest standard — used to describe an experience, item, or performance that impresses or delights.

例句

Hoa gave a topping performance at the school concert last night.

attributive use: topping + performance

Everyone agreed it was a topping afternoon at the seaside, with sunshine and live music.

同義詞
  • excellent

    standard, neutral register; far more common across all varieties of English

  • splendid

    also somewhat dated, but still understood; similar register to 'topping'

  • brilliant

    the modern British equivalent; very common in informal UK speech

反義詞
  • terrible

    opposite of excellent quality

  • awful

    common informal opposite

文法句型

topping + noun

be + topping

用法筆記

Dated British slang — widely used in early-to-mid 20th century but now sounds old-fashioned. Occurs in both attributive ("a topping meal") and predicative ("that's topping!") positions. Modern speakers prefer "great," "brilliant," or "fantastic."

常見錯誤

❌The party was topping — everyone had fun.' (not wrong, but sounds dated)
✅The party was brilliant
💡everyone had fun.' — for natural modern British English, avoid 'topping' in this sense.
❌She gave a topping presentation at the conference.
✅She gave an excellent presentation at the conference.
💡'topping' as an adjective for 'excellent' is very rare in American English and dated in British English.

topping — noun