Crossword clues for superlative
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Superlative \Su`per*la"tive\, n.
That which is highest or most eminent; the utmost degree.
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(Gram.) (a) The superlative degree of adjectives and adverbs; also, a form or word by which the superlative degree is expressed; as, strongest, wisest, most stormy, least windy, are all superlatives.
Absolute superlative, a superlative in an absolute rather than in a comparative or exclusive sense. See Elative.
Superlative \Su`per*la"tive\, a. [L. superlativus, fr. superlatus excessive, used as p. p. of superiorferre, but from a different root: cf. F. superlatif. See Elate, Tolerate.]
Lifted up to the highest degree; most eminent; surpassing all other; supreme; as, superlative wisdom or prudence; a woman of superlative beauty; the superlative glory of the divine character.
(Gram.) Expressing the highest or lowest degree of the quality, manner, etc., denoted by an adjective or an adverb. The superlative degree is formed from the positive by the use of -est, most, or least; as, highest, most pleasant, least bright. [1913 Webster] -- Su`per*la"tive*ly, adv. -- Su`per*la"tive*ness, n.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
late 14c., from Old French superlatif "absolute, highest; powerful; best" (13c.) and directly from Late Latin superlativus "extravagant, exaggerated, hyperbolic," from Latin superlatus "exaggerated" (used as past participle of superferre "carry over or beyond"), from super "beyond" (see super-) + lat- "carry," from *tlat-, past participle stem of tollere "to take away" (see extol). Related: Superlatively; superlativeness.\n
\nThe noun is attested from 1520s, originally in the grammatical sense, "a word in the superlative;" hence "exaggerated language" (1590s).
Wiktionary
1 Exceptionally good; of the highest quality; super
2 (context grammar English) Of or relating to a superlative. n. 1 The highest extent or degree of something. 2 (label en grammar) The form of an adjective that expresses which of more than two items has the highest degree of the quality expressed by the adjective; in English, formed by appending "-est" to the end of the adjective (for some short adjectives only) or putting "most" before it. 3 (label en informal) An adjective used to praise something exceptional.
WordNet
n. an exaggerated expression (usually of praise); "the critics lavished superlatives on it"
the highest level or degree attainable; "his landscapes were deemed the acme of beauty"; "the artist's gifts are at their acme"; "at the height of her career"; "the peak of perfection"; "summer was at its peak"; "...catapulted Einstein to the pinnacle of fame"; "the summit of his ambition"; "so many highest superlatives achieved by man"; "at the top of his profession" [syn: acme, height, elevation, peak, pinnacle, summit, top]
the superlative form of an adjective; "`best' is the superlative form of `good'"
adj. highest in quality [syn: greatest, sterling(a)]
Wikipedia
In grammar, the superlative is the form of an adverb or adjective that is the greatest degree of a given descriptor. English superlatives are typically formed with the suffix -est (e.g. healthiest, weakest) or the word most (most recent, most interesting). One preposition, near, also has a superlative form, as in Find the restaurant nearest your house.
Usage examples of "superlative".
The citizens had judged him rightly for what he was - a nigromancer of superlative powers.
We all conceived a prepossession in his favour, for there was a sterling quality in this laugh, and in his vigorous, healthy voice, and in the roundness and fullness with which he uttered every word he spoke, and in the very fury of his superlatives, which seemed to go off like blank cannons and hurt nothing.
Tower of Babel which has sprung up in Paris has killed that pretention, I think we shall feel and speak more modestly about our stone hyperbole, our materialization of the American love of the superlative.
If you want to read books that will sweep you off your feet with their beauty, passion and superlative plot, check this trilogy out.
The wines were superlative, and by the time they had been returned to the Bianchi palazzo, Stone was a little drunk, more than a little jet-lagged, and ready for bed.
Journey to Calvary, which contains about forty figures rather larger than life, and nine horses,--is of such superlative excellence as regards composition and dramatic power, to say nothing of the many admirable individual figures comprised in it, that it is not too much to call it the most astounding work that has ever been achieved in sculpture.
If he hears claims of superlative gains by the experiments there carried on, how is he to weigh and decide their value?
Lavandula delphinensis and Lavandula latifolia--detects a superlative meal in the making.
Yet one tiny scrap of evidence regarding the superlative has long been available: In Letters:278-279, Tolkien explained the adjectival form ancalima occurring in LotR.
In English, adjectives have a comparative form that is constructed by adding the ending -er, and a superlative form that is formed with the ending -est.
For this reason, many writers have used the prefix an as the equivalent of the English ending -est, to construct the superlative form of adjectives e.
Then it would probably also be permissible to let adjectives retain their normal initial consonant even when the superlative prefix an comes before it.
The other thirteen are clarifiers—they are used to specify tenses, or as counters, or even to identify comparatives and superlatives.
And what chains them to their present state of barbarism and wretchedness, but a bigotted veneration for the supposed superlative wisdom of their fathers, and the preposterous idea that they are to look backward for better things, and not forward, longing, as it should seem, to return to the days of eating acorns and roots, rather than indulge in the degeneracies of civilization?
But it is a superlative story because of its Faulknerian qualitiesthe dark and twisted pride motivating the criminal, the pathos, the authentic sound of the dialogue, the local colour, and the provincial stage on which Faulkner plays out his little drama.