a highest priority

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "a highest priority" is not correct in standard English; it should be "the highest priority." You can use "the highest priority" when referring to something that is of utmost importance or urgency.
Example: "Ensuring the safety of our employees is the highest priority for our company."

⚠ May contain grammatical issues

Science

News & Media

Academia

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

9 human-written examples

The Category A (highest priority) organisms are rarely seen in the US and include anthrax, botulism, plague, smallpox, tularemia, and viral hemorrhagic fever [ 59].

Critical Care

Congress told us that after the cabinet reshuffle they would do this as a highest priority: that they'd resolve it, talk to us, call us back for discussions and probably introduce a bill in Parliament as well.

The New York Times

Prof. Kammen, you are most correct to give student competitions a highest priority because it is their future that demands the highest level of protection we can achieve today with the required sense of urgency because of the rapidly escalating climate changes that are harming people and our environment with increasingly unacceptable consequences already.

University of California, Berkeley

After having read, thought about and commented on your posts and the Berkeley Blog for years, I have finally come to the conclusion that we must create and implement an International Bill of Rights For Women and Children as a highest priority if we are going to achieve a long-term future, acceptable quality of life, or we shall most certainly become one more fallen civilization.

University of California, Berkeley

Next, a highest priority patch (target patch) is selected to be filled using the best patch (source patch) from the neighborhood using patch matching.

EURASIP Journal on Image and Video Processing

A highest priority point shall be designated by p 0, which compares the priority size of each pixel on the boundary of the damaged region.

EURASIP Journal on Image and Video Processing

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

51 human-written examples

The Legislature made reform a high priority.

The New York Times

"What's a higher priority?" she asked.

The New York Times

But scoring is not a high priority.

The New York Times - Sports

"This is a high priority now".

The New York Times

This remains a high priority for us.

Independent

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Use the grammatically correct form, "the highest priority", when indicating something of utmost importance. This ensures clarity and professionalism in your writing.

Common error

Avoid using the indefinite article "a" with superlative adjectives like "highest". Superlatives typically require the definite article "the" to specify the unique position on a scale. Instead of saying "a highest priority", use "the highest priority".

Linguistic Context

The phrase functions as a noun phrase intended to identify something as being of utmost importance. However, due to the incorrect article usage, as Ludwig AI points out, it is grammatically flawed. The intended function is to act as a subject, object, or complement within a sentence, assigning ultimate precedence to a specified entity or task.

Expression frequency: Uncommon

Frequent in

Science

38%

News & Media

38%

Academia

24%

Less common in

Formal & Business

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Wiki

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, while the phrase "a highest priority" appears in various sources, Ludwig AI identifies it as grammatically incorrect; the correct form is "the highest priority". This phrase is intended to emphasize the utmost importance of something. While Ludwig examples show its use across different contexts like science, news and academia, it's essential to use the grammatically correct version to maintain clarity and credibility in your writing. Alternatives like "top priority" or "utmost priority" can also be used to convey a similar meaning.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

the highest priority

Grammatically correct form of the query, using the definite article "the" instead of "a".

top priority

A shorter and more common way to express something of utmost importance.

utmost priority

Replaces "highest" with "utmost", emphasizing the extreme importance.

chief priority

Uses "chief" to indicate the main or leading priority.

paramount importance

Shifts from "priority" to "importance", stressing the significance.

prime concern

Replaces "priority" with "concern", highlighting the main worry or focus.

number one priority

A more emphatic way to state that something is the most important.

main focus

Shifts to "focus", indicating the primary area of attention.

key objective

Emphasizes the goal-oriented nature of the priority.

urgent matter

Highlights the time-sensitive nature of the priority.

FAQs

What is the correct way to say something is most important?

The correct way is to say "the highest priority", which indicates something is of utmost importance. Using "a highest priority" is grammatically incorrect.

What can I say instead of "the highest priority"?

You can use alternatives like "top priority", "utmost priority", or "chief priority" to convey the same meaning.

Which is correct, "a highest priority" or "the highest priority"?

"The highest priority" is the correct grammatical form. The indefinite article "a" is not appropriate for superlative adjectives like "highest".

Is there a difference in meaning between "the highest priority" and "top priority"?

While both phrases convey that something is very important, "the highest priority" is slightly more formal. "Top priority" is more commonly used in everyday language.