grammaticality - Is "most superior" correct?


I am reviewing an article, and the author uses the phrase



... this algorithm achieves the most superior fairness ...



Initially I thought the phrase is not correct, just like saying that something is more better than something, but I did a google search and got more than a million hits (using quotes).


So my question is: is the use of "most superior" ever correct? If not, why not?



Answer



Yes, most superior is incorrect: English forbids double-superlatives.


That's because superior itself is already an absolute superlative form (well, or absolute comparative; in any event, it is already inflected by degree).


It's like using more or most on better or best. These are therefore all wrong, and sound ungrammatical to the native ear:



  • *more better

  • *most better

  • *more best

  • *most best

  • *more superior

  • *most superior


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