“Of all the girls at the ball, Priscilla was dressed most beautifully.”
In the above sentence, most beautifully is an adverb form that describes the verb dressed. I could have simply stated that Priscilla was beautifully dressed or that she was dressed more beautifully than Erica. But since I wanted readers to know that her manner of dress far exceeded any other, I used a special type of adverb called a <strong>superlative adverb</strong>.
Let’s Define Superlative Adverb
A superlative adverb is used to compare three or more people, places, or things. It’s used to state that the action performed is to the highest degree within a group or of its kind. They are sometimes preceded by the word “the” but not always.
In the opening sentence the superlative adverb form of beautifully was used to compare three or more manners of dress. Most beautifully is the highest degree of dressing beautifully!
Forming a Superlative Adverb
The rules for forming a superlative adverb is rather straightforward. If the adverb has the same form as a one-syllable adjective simply add the suffix –est to the end of the word.
For example:
Also, just as with forming superlative adjectives, if the adverb ends with a “y” then change the “y” to “i” and then add –est. Like this:
However, sometimes adding an –est isn’t appropriate to form a superlative adverb. The vast majority of adverbs end in the suffix –ly and to add another suffix isn’t grammatically correct. Plus, it sounds funny. You wouldn’t say dressed beautifullyest would you? Thankfully, there is a much easier way to show the superlative form of these adverbs. All you have to do to form the superlative adverb for adverbs that end in –ly is precede them with most or least.
Superlative Adverb Examples
It’s often helpful to see adverbs in all their forms in order to get a clear idea of the degrees of comparison. Here is a list of several common adverbs in the positive, comparative, and superlative form.
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| soon | sooner | soonest |
| loud | louder | loudest |
| quick | quicker | quickest |
| fast | faster | fastest |
| long | longer | longest |
| hard | harder | hardest |
| sweetly | more sweetly | most sweetly |
| angrily | more angrily | most angrily |
| brightly | more brightly | most brightly |
| abruptly | more abruptly | most abruptly |
| frequently | more frequently | most frequently |
| quietly | more quietly | most quietly |
| carefully | more carefully | most carefully |
| happily | more happily | most happily |
| anxiously | more anxiously | most anxiously |
| perfect | more perfect | most perfect |
| assuredly | more assuredly | most assuredly |
| graciously | more graciously | most graciously |
Sentence examples containing a superlative adverb:
Irregular Forms
Some adverbs have irregular forms, which means the superlative can’t be created by adding the suffix –est or by using most or least. Here are some such superlative adverb examples:
Many – most
Much – most
Well – best
Bad – worst
Far – farthest/furthest
Little – least
Use these rules and examples to help you with your understanding of the superlative adverb form. Just remember that superlatives compare three or more people, places, or things and they are created with the suffix –est or the use of the words most or least. Then, once you’ve memorized a few irregular forms, you’ll quickly find forming a superlative adverb to be a breeze.