meist-

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See also: meist

German

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Etymology

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From meist (most; mostly).

Pronunciation

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Prefix

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meist-

  1. forms the superlative of past participles when this form is used to express frequency
    das meistgelesene Buchthe most read book (read most often, by most people)
    der meistkritisierte Politikerthe most criticized politician (criticized most often, by most people)

Usage notes

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  • Past participle superlatives that express a degree can be formed in the normal way, that is with the suffix -st: die zerstörteste Stadt (“the most destroyed city”). Alternatively, am meisten can be used before the positive form: die am meisten zerstörte Stadt. (The latter is only possible with participles.)
  • There may be a semantic difference between a superlative with meist- and a normal superlative (though this is not the case with every past participle and generally is not often relevant in practice). Compare:
die zerstörteste Stadt (= die am meisten zerstörte Stadt) — the city that was most destroyed at a given point in time
die meistzerstörte Stadt (= die am häufigsten zerstörte Stadt) — the city that was most often destroyed in its history
  • Double superlatives with both the prefix meist- and the suffix -st are not seldom encountered: das meistgelesenste Buch. This is regarded nonstandard usage in the formal register, but need not strike people as ungrammatical in informal use.