: the obvious or easy things that can be most readily done or dealt with in achieving success or making progress toward an objective
Maria and Victor have about three months' living expenses set aside. That's actually pretty good … . But I urged them to do better … . Looking at their monthly expenses, we found a few pieces of low-hanging fruit: Two hundred dollars a month on clothes? I don't think so. Another $155 for hair and manicures? Denied.Suze Orman
often used with pick
As the writers and producers sat down in spring 2007 to draw the outlines of Season 7, they knew, Mr. Gordon said, that most of the low-hanging fruit in the action genre had already been picked.Edward Wyatt
When business types talk about picking low-hanging fruit, they don't mean, heaven forbid, doing actual physical labor. They mean finding easy solutions.Allan Sloan

Examples of low-hanging fruit in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Where is the low-hanging fruit on your website that’s most ripe for innovation? Dave Foster, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026 All of the low-hanging fruit storywise goes into those first few episodes. David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 11 Aug. 2026 When $6 billion proves hard to find in cloud contracts, payroll is the low-hanging fruit. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 3 Aug. 2026 Lob the low-hanging fruit to those who spent meaningful time around Murray, and the responses range. Alec Lewis, New York Times, 28 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for low-hanging fruit

Word History

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of low-hanging fruit was in 1909

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Cite this Entry

“Low-hanging fruit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/low-hanging%20fruit. Accessed 20 Aug. 2026.

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