scenario

Related to scenario: scenery

best-case scenario

The best possible outcome. The best-case scenario is that Doug will be only an hour late—traffic on his route is at a standstill. They're only selling junk at the yard sale, so I think the best-case scenario is that they'll make $10. The doctor said that the best-case scenario is an operable tumor.
See also: scenario

the worst-case scenario

The worst possible thing that could happen. We don't expect it to happen, but we need to plan for the worst-case scenario. The worst-case scenario here is that we lose the next three games and miss the playoffs. The best-case scenario is that we win out and get a bye in the first round.
See also: scenario
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

best-case scenario

Cliché the optimum outcome being considered. (Compare this with the worst-case scenario.) Now that we've seen the negative angle, let's look at the best-case scenario. In the best-case scenario, we're all dead eventually—but then that's true of the worst-case scenario also.
See also: scenario

worst-case scenario

Cliché the worse possible future outcome. Now, let's look at the worst-case scenario. In the worst-case scenario, we're all dead.
See also: scenario
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

worst-case scenario

n. the worst possible future outcome. Now, let’s look at the worst-case scenario.
See also: scenario
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

best/worst-case scenario

The best or worst possible outcome for a situation. These clichés use scenario in the sense of an imagined situation or sequence of events, a usage that has become common since about 1960. For example, “In the best-case scenario, Dad set off the burglar alarm accidentally,” or “It isn’t just that the price is higher, but none are left even at that price—that’s the worst-case scenario.” An amusing how-to manual by David Borgenicht and Joshua Piven, The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook (1999), probes improbable mishaps and emergencies, such as how to escape quicksand or how to land a pilotless airplane. The term appeared in Newsweek, on June 23, 2010, “The Oil Spill’s Worst-Case Scenario? Efforts to Stop the Flow May Have Set the Stage for an Even Bigger Catastrophe.” The antonym, best-case scenario, meaning the best possible outcome, is also a cliché. The Statesman Journal (Oregon) had it on August 22, 2010: “Best-Case Scenario Still Means State Cuts” in the budget. See also if worst comes to worst.
See also: scenario

worst-case scenario

See best/worst case scenario.
See also: scenario
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • best-case scenario
  • at best/worst
  • at its best
  • at one's best
  • look (one's)/its best
  • look your/its best
  • as best (one) can
  • as best one can
  • as best you can
  • (had) best (do something)
References in periodicals archive
Over the years, I developed a small sub-team that does the political analysis for the big-picture scenarios. Scenarios are holistic pictures of the future, setting out alternative ways in which the world could evolve.
Scenario Planning at Shell: Cho Khong: As Shell's chief political analyst, Cho Khong provides context for Shell's scenario planning effort
Last, take note that Scenario C is just like Scenario A, but only set in the future.
Hyperbolic Discounting, or why most people don't invest
The Sky Scenario 'is feasible but very challenging,' Bentham said.
Production of gas-fed cars seen shrinking soon
This CLO stress test is meant to convey the potential impact of the three hypothetical shock scenarios on an average CLO portfolio.
Fitch: Senior US CLO Notes Resilient Under LevLoan Stresses
When Scenario 2 was compared with Scenarios 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 of the first shift, the Mann-Whitney test resulted in a p-value that was less than 0.05 for all cases, i.e., the hypothesis of samples being equal was rejected.
Human factors in an automotive discrete event simulation model/Fator humano em um modelo de simulacao a eventos discretos do setor automotivo
Cyprus's public debt is deemed sustainable and will continue the downward path it entered in 2015, in all four sensitivity analysis scenarios, the finance ministry said.
Sensitivity analysis shows public debt sustainable, finance ministry says
We define [IF.sup.i.sub.t] and [IP.sub.t.sup.i] are, respectively, the indicator whether the system should be taken CM action, the indicator whether the system should be taken PM action, at time epoch t for degradation scenario i.
Scenario Reduction Method based on Output Performance for Condition-Based Maintenance Optimization
The more we water down the scenario, the less authentic of an experience it becomes for our students.
Scenario training and evaluation for CTE programs
TurkStat designed three population growth scenarios up until 2075.
Questions on population growth and the ageing problem
Scenarios E and F adjust scenario A to assume greater Republican voter preferences for different groups.
America's electoral future: how changing demographics could impact presidential elections from 2016 to 2032
"Under this scenario, the excess supply in the market is likely to be reduced to 0.8m b/d.
QNB outline oil scenarios for 2016
Navigating the Future With Scenario Planning: A Guidebook for Librarians
Navigating the Future With Scenario Planning: A Guidebook for Librarians
C'est en effet l'equation qui se pose depuis de longues dates a la revue Les cahiers du cinema dans son rapport au scenario. La celebre revue parisienne qui s'est toujours considere comme le temple de la mise en scene a aborde tres rarement la question du scenario.
L'anti-manuel des Cahiers du cinema
Scenario Planning has its origins in military intelligence and its use of discipline in Operations Research during World War II.
Five propositions regarding scenario planning's problematic claims
Population projections are based on the United Nations medium-fertility scenario (United Nations, 2011).
U.S. C[O.sub.2] Mitigation in a Global Context: Welfare, Trade and Land Use