Najbolji

Najbolji is a superlative adjective used in Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian to denote “the best.” It is formed from the comparative bolji, which comes from the root of dobar (good), with the superlative prefix naj- attached. The result is used to rank one thing or person above all others in a given context.

In writing, najbolji is typically presented in Latin script as najbolji. In Serbian, the form can also appear in Cyrillic as најбољи. The word is an adjective and, like other adjectives in these languages, agrees with the noun in gender and number. Masculine singular is najbolji, feminine singular is najbolja, and neuter singular is najbolje; plural forms vary with the noun they modify.

Usage of najbolji is common in everyday speech, media, and sports to express top quality or ranking. It can function attributively, as in najbolji igrač (the best player), or predicatively, as in On je najbolji (He is the best). The term can be extended metaphorically to mean “the finest” in a broader sense, such as najbolji od najboljih (the best of the best).

Etymologically, najbolji reflects the Slavic languages’ use of naj- as a superlative prefix and bolji as the comparative form of dobar. This construction is shared across Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian, with only orthographic differences between scripts.

See also: superlative, comparison in Slavic languages, dobar.