in the extreme

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

1.The utmost point or verge; that part which terminates a body; extremity. [1913 Webster]

2.Utmost limit or degree that is supposable or tolerable; hence, furthest degree; any undue departure from the mean; -- often in the plural: things at an extreme distance from each other, the most widely different states, etc.; as, extremes of heat and cold, of virtue and vice; extremes meet. [1913 Webster]

His parsimony went to the extreme of meanness.— Bancroft.[1913 Webster]

3.An extreme state or condition; hence, calamity, danger, distress, etc. "Resolute in most extremes." --Shak. [1913 Webster]

4.(Logic) Either of the extreme terms of a syllogism, the middle term being interposed between them. [1913 Webster]

5.(Math.) The first or the last term of a proportion or series. [1913 Webster]

In the extreme as much as possible. "The position of the Port was difficult in the extreme." --J. P. Peters. [1913 Webster]

The Jargon File

A preferred superlative suffix for many hackish terms. See, for example, obscure in the extreme under obscure, and compare highly.