Questa pizza è buonissima!This pizza is delicious!

The absolute superlative says that something has a quality to a very high degree, with no comparison at all. Italian usually builds it by adding -issimo to the adjective, and the resulting adjective agrees with the noun in gender and number, like any other adjective.

Quick shortcut: drop the last vowel and add -issimo / -issima / -issimi / -issime: bello → bellissimo, alta → altissima. For adverbs: bene → benissimo, molto → moltissimo.

1. How it is formed

Take the adjective without its final vowel and add the ending. The ending agrees with the noun in gender and number:

Adjective Absolute superlative Example
bello bellissimo È un film bellissimo. (It's a really beautiful film.)
alta altissima La torre è altissima. (The tower is very tall.)
grandi grandissimi Hanno due cani grandissimi. (They have two huge dogs.)
felice felicissime Siamo felicissime! (We are so happy!)

The stress falls on the -ìs- syllable: bellìssimo. With adjectives in -io, the whole ending goes: vecchio → vecchissimo, serio → serissimo.

2. Spelling changes

To keep the hard c and g sound, adjectives in -co / -go whose plural is -chi / -ghi add an h:

  • ricco → ricchissimo, bianco → bianchissimo, antico → antichissimo
  • lungo → lunghissimo, largo → larghissimo

Feminine forms follow the same pattern: ricchissima, lunghissima. Adjectives whose plural ends in -ci do not take the h: amico → amici → amicissimo, simpatico → simpaticissimo. Following the plural is a reliable guide.

A few literary adjectives in -re have -errimo instead (celebre → celeberrimo). You will mostly meet this form in reading.

3. Adverbs

Many common adverbs take -issimo too, and it stays invariable: bene → benissimo, male → malissimo, molto → moltissimo, poco → pochissimo, presto → prestissimo, tardi → tardissimo.

  • Sto benissimo. (I'm doing really well.)
  • Mi piace moltissimo. (I like it a lot.)
  • Ci vediamo prestissimo! (See you very soon!)

For adverbs in -mente, Italian normally uses molto instead of a long form: molto velocemente.

4. The alternative with molto

The easier, very common way to intensify is molto + adjective or adverb: molto bello, molto bene. Both are correct; -issimo sounds a bit more emphatic. Combining the two (molto bellissimo) is usually avoided in careful style, because -issimo already says "very". Other options are davvero bello, proprio buono, estremamente utile.

5. Relative or absolute?

The relative superlative picks one out of a group (il più alto della classe), as in Relative superlative. The absolute superlative compares with nothing: È altissimo. (He is very tall.) Some adjectives have their own absolute forms, such as buono → ottimo and cattivo → pessimo, but buonissimo and cattivissimo are also normal. See Irregular comparatives and superlatives.

Common mistakes

  • ❌ più bellissimo → ✅ bellissimo (-issimo already says "very")
  • ❌ ricissimo → ✅ ricchissimo (the h keeps the hard k sound)
  • ❌ Anna è altissimo. → ✅ Anna è altissima. (it agrees with the noun)

Quick check

Here are a few words to turn into the absolute superlative.

  1. una casa grande (very big)
  2. due ragazzi simpatici (very nice)
  3. un uomo ricco (very rich)
  4. Sto bene. (very well)
  5. una strada lunga (very long)
  6. Vengo presto. (very soon)
Show answers
  1. una casa grandissima   2. due ragazzi simpaticissimi   3. un uomo ricchissimo   4. Sto benissimo.   5. una strada lunghissima   6. Vengo prestissimo.

Key takeaways

  • -issimo (drop the last vowel) says "very" without any comparison: bellissimo, altissima.
  • It agrees like an adjective in -o: -issimo, -issima, -issimi, -issime.
  • Adjectives in -co / -go with plural -chi / -ghi add h: ricchissimo, lunghissimo; those with plural -ci do not: amicissimo.
  • Adverbs take it too and stay invariable: benissimo, moltissimo.
  • Molto + adjective is the everyday alternative; combining the two is usually avoided in careful style.