What a Superlative!

I love a great superlative!

While we typically don’t use the stupendous word “superlative,” it is a collection of words we use on a frequent basis.

I find myself returning to them over and over again to give delightful definition and extraordinary enunciation to what I want to say. I often end emails with them and shout one as a momentous battle cry to friends journeying along the Narrow Way.

So what IS a superlative? 

The official definition is an adverb or adjective expressing “the highest quality or degree,” but that doesn’t explain what it is. Simply, a superlative is one of those magical words used to convey the incredibleness of something.

• “Wow! That’s soooo cool!” 
• “Totally narley dude.”
• “That is absolutely marvelous.” 
• “You are one bodacious brother.” 

Yep, superlatives. And if you’re like me, you use them all the time.

Superlatives Over the Years

Over the years, the popular superlative to talk about something being great or amazing seems to change within culture—and, in reverse, the superlatives often define the pop culture. For example:

• In the 1920s, the Jazz age, the popular superlative terms were “bee’s knees,” “cat’s pajamas,” “the berries,” “hotcha,” and “hep” (as a variation to “hip” … or to use it in a sentence: “She’s the heppest gal at the dance”)
• In the 1930s and ’40s, swing and big band was on the rise which seemed to influence the superlatives: “solid,” “keen,” “hot” (as in “That band is hot!”), “cool” (began to emerge in usage), “jive,” and “hep” was still popular
• In the 1950s, the popular superlative was “neat,” “cool,” “boss,” “hip,” “real gone,” “cherry” (especially used for cars), and “crazy” (used in a positive sense, like “crazy cool”)
• In the 1960s, the emphasis was “cool,” “groovy,” “far out,” “outta sight,” “fab,” “right on,” or “heavy” (as in “That’s really heavy, man!”)
• Amidst the disco and funk era of the 1970s, the superlatives were “funky,” “boogie,” “bad” (used as a positive), “solid,” “fox” (to describe an attractive person), and “right on” was still going strong
• By the end of the ’70s and into the ’80s, the superlative of choice was “gnarly,” “rad,” and my favorite, “bodacious” (unless you were in the surfer crowd, then the term was “tubular”—”That’s a totally tubular wave!” (referring to a wave that formed a hollow tube as it broke; considered to be the perfect ride—which then spread into the rest of the culture as part of the superlative vernacular)
• The ’80s also popularized “awesome,” “wicked” (especially in the Northeast), and “excellent”
• The 1990s were totally “awesome,” where the superlative seemed to be used everywhere. But the ’90s also gave us the sweet superlatives: “phat,” “dope,” “tight,” “fly,” “da bomb,” “sweet,” “kickin’,” and “all that”
• By 2000, the superlatives went “sick,” “epic,” “crunk,” “hot,” “legit,” and “fire” began in hip-hop but was starting to spread throughout much of culture
• In the 2010s, memes and social media was on the rise, influencing the superlatives “lit,” “fire” (now widespread), “on fleek,” “slaps” (especially for music), “savage,” “goals,” and “extra” (as in “so extra” meaning over-the-top cool or dramatic) … I also heard from a friend in Chicago that the gangs were using “church” as their superlative of choice
• Our current decade (2020s), influenced by TikTok and other short-form video content, has produced the popular superlatives “no cap” (meaning serious, no lie), “based” (for confidently being yourself), “slay,” “goat” (greatest of all time), “vibe,” “drip,” “valid,” “W” (often said as “dub” to refer to a “win”), and supposedly “fire” is still going strong

It appears that the superlatives of each decade really find their grip amongst the teenagers … so depending on when you lived, several of the terms above may bring a smile or a cringe of remembrance.

All that said, superlatives are great words that spice up a sentence and often give an exaggerated emphasis of excitement.

Superlatives in Scripture

I think the reason I have a love for the superlative is because Scripture is continually alluding to the wonder and majesty of Christ—as if no superlative is great enough to describe the divine, fantastic, illustrious, incomparable, outrageous, stupendous love and life of Jesus Christ!

The Psalms are full of praise and adoration unto our God (as Hebrew poetry, the use of repetition, imagery, and intensifiers is similar to how we use superlatives)—for examples see Psalm 8:1; 95:3; 103:11; 145:3. Paul loved a good superlative, or would create a similar effect by combining multiple adjectives to magnify the power and grace of God. For example:

• In Ephesians 1:19, Paul wrote, “[I pray you would know] what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe…” The term in Greek (hyperballō megethos) would be similar to us saying, “super-ultra greatness.”
• In 2 Corinthians 4:17, Paul wrote, “For our momentary, light affliction is working out for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison“—that phrase in Greek (kath’ hyperbolēn eis hyperbolēn) is intense, literally something like “beyond measure upon beyond measure.”

Even one of God’s names is a superlative—Elyon (the Most High). Psalm 7:17 declares, “I will give thanks to Yahweh according to His righteousness and will sing praise to the name of Yahweh Most High (Elyon).”

Superlatives

Over the last couple of decades, I’ve been compiling a list of grand and glorious superlatives (over 240 to date).

The next time someone asks you how your day is going, don’t say “good” (such a mediocre superlative), say “stupendous,” “lovely,” or a delightful “phantasmagorical”—because good just isn’t good enough.

FOOTNOTES

Photo Credit: Peter Conlan
Originally written August 13, 2010. Updated and expanded in 2025.