Superlatif

Superlatif, in linguistic terms, is the grammatical form used to express the highest degree of a property. It marks the extreme end of comparison and can refer to a specific subset (the tallest in the class) or to a broad absolute sense (the most beautiful day). It contrasts with the positive form (the tall, the beautiful) and the comparative (taller, more beautiful).

In English, the most common patterns are straightforward: short adjectives take -est (tall → tallest, small → smallest), while longer adjectives use most (beautiful → most beautiful). There are several irregulars, such as best and worst for good and bad, and far, which has forms like farther/farthest or furthest depending on meaning and dialect. The relative superlative is typically introduced by the or a possessive determiner, as in “the tallest in the class” or “the most interesting book."

Across languages, the superlative is formed in a variety of ways. Many Romance languages use a periphrastic construction with a definite article plus a word meaning “most” or “the most”: French le plus grand, Spanish el más alto, Italian il più alto, Portuguese o mais alto. Other languages combine a base adjective with suffixes to create an absolute or intensive form, such as -issimo in Italian or -ísimo in Spanish. Some languages also retain suffixal or periphrastic options for the relative superlative, depending on style and idiom. The exact rules vary by language, but the underlying idea remains: the superlative designates the maximal degree of a quality within a comparison class or beyond.