Bestness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality or state of being the most excellent, effective, or desirable; the condition that represents the highest degree of superiority or merit
2. The characteristic of possessing the utmost excellence, surpassing all others in value, skill, or achievement; the state of being foremost in quality or distinction
3. The attribute of embodying the utmost level of goodness, superiority, or optimal performance; the condition of exemplifying the finest standards or peak excellence

Etymology: "Bestness" is a plain formation: the adjective "best" with the suffix "-ness," which English has attached to adjectives since Old English to turn a quality into a noun. "Best" itself descends from Old English "betst," the superlative of "good," so the word is a superlative stacked with a noun-making suffix. Some readers may notice that "good" has the irregular comparative "better" and superlative "best," and that this same suffatch pattern produces other abstract nouns, such as "goodness." The word is less common than its parts suggest, and it sits comfortably beside more familiar nouns built the same way, like "fairness" or "wholeness." Its meaning follows the suffix: "-ness" names the state or quality, so "bestness" names the condition of being best, rather than any particular thing that is best.

Synonyms: excellence, superiority, supremacy, perfection, preeminence

Antonyms: worstness, inferiority, mediocrity, badness, substandard