nüchternsten

Nüchternsten is the superlative form of the German adjective nüchtern, meaning sober. It describes the most sober individuals, groups, or things within a larger set. The form is primarily used in the plural and often appears after definite determiners such as die, den, or dem (as in die nüchternsten Anwesenden, den nüchternsten Kandidaten).

In practice, nüchternsten is employed to compare a collection to others by identifying the subset that is most sober. For example, Die nüchternsten Beobachter im Raum hielten die Diskussion ruhig. Die nüchternsten Kandidaten wurden für das Protokoll ausgewählt. These usages illustrate how the adjective marks the extremity within a category.

Grammatically, the ending -sten signals the plural superlative in attributive position when coupled with definite articles or other determiners. With different cases or without a determiner, the form may vary, as with other German adjectives, but nüchternsten is characteristic of the plural superlative after definite references.

Etymology traces nüchternsten to nüchtern (sober) plus the standard plural superlative ending -sten, a regular pattern in German adjective inflection for the plural with definite context. The base meaning remains “most sober.”

See also: German adjectives, comparative and superlative forms, nüchtern.