kritischsten

Kritischsten is the superlative form of the German adjective kritisch, used to denote the highest degree of criticality within a group. It functions as an attributive adjective and appears when referring to multiple nouns and the phrase is preceded by a determiner that triggers the weak (or mixed) declension, such as der, die, das, or possessives.

In practice, the form kritischensten appears most commonly in plural noun phrases like Die kritischsten Fragen, Die kritischsten Punkte oder Die kritischsten Stimmen. It signals that among several items, these are the most critical or demanding. The corresponding singular forms are der kritischste, die kritischste, das kritischste, while the plural with a determiner in other cases can take die kritischsten, den kritischsten, den kritischsten, depending on case.

Kritischsten is distinct from the adverbial superlative am kritischsten, which is used to modify verbs and describe the manner of an action (for example, Sie reagierte am kritischsten). As a word form, kritischsten is inherently tied to German inflection rules: it is the plural, attributive superlative ending that follows a definite determiner or similarly inflecting determiner.

Common contexts involve assessments, analyses, or evaluations where multiple items are ranked by their level of critical importance or severity, such as questions, issues, or aspects. Related terms include kritisch (critical), Kritik (criticism), and Kritiker (critic).