schönsten

Schönsten is the superlative form of the German adjective schön, meaning the most beautiful or the most lovely. It functions to express the highest degree of beauty or pleasantness and is used in attributive position before nouns, typically in combination with a definite determiner. For example, in the plural you find die schönsten Blumen (the most beautiful flowers). In singular forms the superlative appears as der schönste, die schönste, or das schönste, depending on gender and case. The adverbial form is am schönsten, meaning the most beautifully.

Grammatical notes include that schönst forms appear with definite determiners in the plural as die schönsten, while singular forms follow gendered endings (der schönste, die schönste, das schönste). The adverbial superlative am schönsten does not agree with a noun, but modifies a verb or adjective predicate, as in Sie singt am schönsten (She sings the most beautifully).

Etymology traces schön to Old High German scōn and related Germanic cognates meaning pleasant or fine; the modern superlative formation uses the common Germanic suffix -sten. The word is widely used across German-speaking contexts, from everyday speech to journalism and literature, and often appears in lists of exemplary cases or tourist promotional language, such as Die schönsten Städte Europas.

See also: schön, Schönheit, Schönheitsideal.