What does greatest mean?
Greatest is the superlative form of great and is used to identify someone or something that has the highest degree of a particular quality, importance, size, success, or excellence. In everyday language, it often means “best”: one can describe an artist’s performance, a difficult journey, or a remarkable achievement as the greatest. The word may also express the most powerful or prominent member of a group, as in “the greatest threat to the plan.” When used nominally in “the greatest,” it refers to a person or thing regarded as exceptionally distinguished. Greatest is grammatically standard in both British and American English and works across formal and informal contexts. Although it can sound emphatic, it is not inherently slangy; its force comes from making a comparison and presenting something as the highest-ranking example. The related words great, greatly, and greatness all share the same historical base.
Having the highest degree or extent of a quality; being the most important, excellent, or remarkable in a group.
"The museum houses one of the greatest collections of medieval manuscripts in Europe."
This is the ordinary and dominant use of greatest. It is the superlative of great.
A person or thing regarded as being of exceptional distinction or importance, especially in the phrase "the greatest".
"Many admirers regarded him as one of the greatest of the century."
This is generally a substantivized use of the adjective rather than a fully independent countable noun.
The plural is rare and generally avoided. The nominal use is more often expressed with phrases such as "one of the greatest" or "the greatest of the century."
"The exhibition brought together some of the greatests of twentieth-century design."
Add the suffix -est to great, and English gives you a word for the very top of any scale.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does greatest come from?
Greatest is an English formation made by combining great with the productive superlative suffix -est. Great itself descends from Old English, where it was used with meanings that developed from an earlier sense of coarseness or thickness toward qualities such as large, powerful, and eminent. The superlative greatest has followed the regular historical pattern of English adjective comparison, and related forms such as greatly and greatness belong to the same lexical family.
How greatest is actually used
Greatest is a standard superlative in neutral formal and informal registers. It is commonly used with qualities, achievements, people, and works, while "the greatest" can also function as a substantivized adjective meaning a person or thing of exceptional distinction.