Quick Answer
Superlative adjectives indicate the maximum degree of an adjective, usually described as the most or the least of something.
Overview
There are three common ways to use adjectives to compare and contrast nouns in Spanish: comparisons of equality, comparisons of inequality, and the superlative.
Forming Superlative Adjectives
To form the superlative in Spanish, you will use a formula very similar to that of comparisons, with the important addition of the definite article.
Regular Superlative Formulas
most: definite article (el, la, los, las) + más + adjective
least: definite article (el, la, los, las) + menos + adjective
Mi madre es la más inteligente de la familia.
My mother is the most intelligent one in the family.
Mi hermano es el menos responsable de la familia.
My brother is the least responsible one in the family.
For adjectives that have single word comparisons, such as mejor (best) and peor (worst) you do not use más or menos.
Irregular Superlative Formula
definite article (el, la, los, las) + superlative adjective
Mi padre es el mayor de sus hermanos.
My father is the oldest of his brothers.
Esta película es la mejor de todas.
This movie is the best of all of them.
Irregular Superlatives
Adjective Superlative Form English
viejo
mayor
oldest
grande
mayor
biggest/largest
joven
menor
youngest
pequeño
menor
smallest
bueno
mejor
best
mal
peor
worst
-Ísimo Adjectives
You can also add -ísimo to an adjective (and even some adverbs) to talk about an extreme degree of something. This handy suffix can translate to very, really, extremely, super, quite, among few others.
¡Esa comida es buenísima!
This food is the best!
Estoy encantadísimo.
I am extremely delighted.
Las chicas allí son bellísimas.
Those girls over there are really beautiful.
Los abogados están ocupadísimos.
The lawyers are super busy.
¡Llegaste tardísimo!
You arrived super late!
Caminas despacísimo.
You walk extremely slowly.
Lists to the Rescue!
Below you will find a list of useful -ísimo adjectives.
Adjective English -ísimo Adjective English
cómico
funny
comiquísimo
really hilarious
blanco
white
blanquísimo
very white
fresco
fresh
fresquísimo
super fresh
largo
long
larguísimo
very long
amargo
bitter
amarguísimo
really bitter
antiguo
old
antiquísimo
very old
agradable
nice
agradabilísimo
super nice
feliz
happy
felicísimo
extremely happy
caliente
hot
calentísimo
really hot
Adjectives that end in -ble tend to change to -bil- when used with -ísimo.
Adjective -ísimo Adjective English
agradable
agradabilísimo
really nice
amable
amabilísimo
really nice
notable
notabilísimo
really outstanding
miserable
misirabilísimo
really miserable
Many qualitative adjectives that have an r in the final syllable do not always take the -ísimo ending, but instead take the -érrimo ending.
Adjective -ísimo Adjective English
acre
acérrimo
extremely bitter
célebre
celebérrimo
extremely famous
libre
libérrima
extremely free
mísero
misérrimo
extremely wretched
salubre
salubérrima
extremely healthy
When an adjective ends in -n, -dor, or -or, -ísimo usually changes to -císimo.
Adjective -ísimo Adjective English
inferior
inferiorcísimo
quite inferior
hablador
habladorcísimo
very talkative
joven
jovencísimo
very young
