ärgerlichsten

ärgerlichsten is the superlative form of the German adjective ärgerlich, meaning most annoying or most irritating. It signals the highest degree of annoyance within a group or situation. The base word ärgerlich comes from ärgern (to annoy) plus the common adjective suffix -lich, yielding “annoying.”

In practice, ärgerlichsten appears in a few common constructions. One is the attributive superlative before a plural noun with a definite determiner, as in die ärgerlichsten Fehlerquellen or die ärgerlichsten Situationen. Here the phrase means “the most annoying …” within the specified set. Another frequent use is the predicative adverbial superlative after am, as in Es ist am ärgerlichsten, wenn Termine ausfallen, meaning “It is the most annoying when appointments fail.” This construction parallels English “the most annoying.”

For singular nouns, the related forms are der ärgerlichste, die ärgerlichste, etc., using the standard weak or strong adjective endings depending on the article and number. Ärgerlichsten thus mainly surfaces in plural contexts or in the am-phrase for adverbial emphasis.

Etymology note: föll from ärgern “to annoy” plus the common adjective-forming suffix -lich, with -sten functioning as the standard German superlative suffix in many contexts.

See also: ärgerlich, Komparativ und Superlativ, Adjektivdeklination, German grammar.