lowest common denominator
noun1
Mathematics, Sciences The smallest positive integer which is a multiple of every denominator of several fractions.
- The lowest common denominator of ¹⁄₆ and ³⁄₁₀ is 30.
2
Figuratively The simplest or base shared interest or characteristic among a group or collection of people etc.
- Reality TV really is appealing to the lowest common denominator in audiences.
- These days, on platforms like X, slopulism is a pejorative label often applied to posts by politicians and pundits alike, anyone who shares out lowest-common-denominator ideas designed to appeal to loyal political bases.2026 February 13, Nathan Taylor Pemberton, “When Posting Becomes Its Own Style of Politics”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 14 Feb 2026:
- Synonyms
- least common denominator