Wichtigsten

Wichtigsten is the superlative form of the German adjective wichtig, meaning "most important." It is used to express that something has the highest level of importance within a group or category. In ordinary prose, wichtig is inflected to agree with gender, number and case, and the superlative ending -sten appears most clearly in the plural after a definite article: die wichtigsten Punkte, die wichtigsten Gründe, die wichtigsten Fragen.

In singular usage with a definite article, the endings differ by gender and case (der wichtigste Punkt, die wichtigste Frage, das wichtigste Thema). The form wichtigsten appears most often in plural contexts or in genitive/dative singular when the adjective is part of a longer inflected phrase, for example: der wichtigsten Punkte (genitive singular), den wichtigsten Punkten (dative plural), den wichtigsten Themen (accusative plural). The adverbial superlative is am wichtigsten, as in Das ist am wichtigsten.

Wichtigsten can also function as part of a noun phrase when capitalized as Wichtigste, meaning “the most important thing.” The plural equivalent in that noun sense is Die wichtigsten Dinge. The word’s meaning is stable across contexts: it marks the peak of importance within a set, not a mere relative priority.

Etymologically, wichtig derives from Germanic roots associated with significance or weight; the concept and the form important in English share a common Germanic lineage.