Meaning & use
least resistance
Last updated
Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
The easiest available way of doing something, with the fewest problems or objections.
Grammar: Used mainly in the phrase the path of least resistance, after of.
Patterns
- the path of least resistance
- take the path of least resistance
- follow the line of least resistance
When the team argued, she took the path of least resistance and agreed with everyone.
Choosing the path of least resistance now may cost you more work later.
He always follows the line of least resistance at home and lets his brother decide.
phrasefixed phrasetechnical
In science, the direction in which something such as electricity or water meets the least opposition.
Grammar: Technical use; often after along or by, as in electricity flows along the path of least resistance.
Patterns
- the path of least resistance
- flow along the path of least resistance
Electric current takes the path of least resistance.
Water running downhill follows the line of least resistance.
Common combinations
- the path of least resistance
- The manager simply took the path of least resistance and approved the plan.
- take the path of least resistance
- Students often take the path of least resistance when choosing a topic.
- follow the line of least resistance
- Good leaders do not always follow the line of least resistance.
- offer the least resistance
- The soft ground offered the least resistance to the diggers.
- the principle of least resistance
- Engineers design pipes around the principle of least resistance.
Synonyms and how they differ
- the easy option
- More informal and general; it does not suggest a physical direction the way least resistance does.
- the easy way out
- Often slightly disapproving, suggesting you avoided a duty; least resistance is more neutral.
Opposites
Commonly confused: least resistance or less resistance?
least resistance vs less resistance
Less resistance simply means 'a smaller amount of opposition'; least resistance means the smallest amount of all, and is the fixed phrase.
Practice
Which sentence uses least resistance correctly?
Choose one answer.
The fixed idiom is 'the path of least resistance'. 'Less resistance' compares two things rather than naming the easiest route, and 'a least resistance' is not grammatical because least resistance is not used as a countable noun here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “least resistance”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.