Superlative: most lovely or loveliest? (2025)

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wordsareforpeople

New Member

United States

  • Feb 3, 2007
  • #1

I'm a songwriter. The phrase in context is "The most lovely place I could ever go.." I believe it is technically incorrect and should be "loveliest place." However, when googled, "most lovely" comes up all over the place. And it fits better with the phrasing and melody. I'm looking for opinions. In the context of a song as opposed to a formal writing, does this bother anyone? Is it borderline? Is it an exception? Or is it just plain wrong and therefore sounds funny?

Thank you,

wordsareforpeople

  • S

    sloopjc

    Senior Member

    UK English

    • Feb 3, 2007
    • #2

    The use of 'most' anything is Old English. "Most excellent" for example is Shakespeare personified, and not slang from the movie, "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure".

    E

    emilymonster

    Member

    Leicestershire

    England

    • Feb 3, 2007
    • #3

    Cuold you try using a different word to lovely because 'most lovely', 'loveliest', 'lovelier' etc. sounds odd? Perhaps 'the best' or 'the prettiest'?

    L

    la reine victoria

    Banned

    Relaxing at Osborne, Isle of Wight

    England, English

    • Feb 3, 2007
    • #4

    Welcome to the forums, wordsareforpeople,

    "Most lovely" sounds fine to my British ears. Remember when writing songs you have the freedom of artistic licence.Superlative: most lovely or loveliest? (1)

    LRV

    JamesM

    Senior Member

    Los Angeles, California

    English, USA

    • Feb 3, 2007
    • #5

    Depending on context, I don't think "most lovely" sounds that odd, either, to my American ears. Superlative: most lovely or loveliest? (3) "Linda showed up in the most lovely dress I have ever seen!" If "the" in "THE most lovely dress" is accented and pronounced as "THEE", not "thuh", this sentence has a certain style to it that I've heard some women use when chatting about an event. "Loveliest" instead of "most lovely" in this context would throw the rhythm off and sound awkward to my ear.

    As an aside, I think many English speakers develop a sense of the natural ia1mbic rhythm of English and they re-word things to match that rhythm. "THEE most LOVEly DRESS i've EVer SEEN" has a great musical rhythm to it. Superlative: most lovely or loveliest? (4)

    W

    wordsareforpeople

    New Member

    United States

    • Feb 3, 2007
    • #6

    That's funny you say that about your British ears. I told a friend that for some reason it sounded more correct when I said it in a British (well, faux British), accent.

    So, thanks for the confirmation la reine victoria and sloopjc. And emilymonster, I will definitely throw around the idea of a different word altogether. Could you expound a little? What is it about any form of "lovely" do your ears dislike?

    Thanks!

    wordsareforpeople

    W

    wordsareforpeople

    New Member

    United States

    • Feb 3, 2007
    • #7

    JamesM said:

    Depending on context, I don't think "most lovely" sounds that odd, either, to my American ears. Superlative: most lovely or loveliest? (5) "Linda showed up in the most lovely dress I have ever seen!" If "the" in "THE most lovely dress" is accented and pronounced as "THEE", not "thuh", this sentence has a certain style to it that I've heard some women use when chatting about an event. "Loveliest" instead of "most lovely" in this context would throw the rhythm off and sound awkward to my ear.

    As an aside, I think many English speakers develop a sense of the natural iambic rhythm of English and they re-word things to match that rhythm.

    "THE most LOVEly DRESS i've EVer SEEN" has a great musical rhythm to it. "THE - LOVEliest DRESS i've EVer SEEN" has a hiccup in it. Superlative: most lovely or loveliest? (6)

    That's good to know it doesn't instantly sound odd or blatantley wrong. Yeah, the two word, "most lovely" sounds and feels very strong when I sing it. The loveliest forces me to hang on the "uh" vowel which is not strong and string one word out over too long of phrase.

    Thanks ~

    JamesM

    Senior Member

    Los Angeles, California

    English, USA

    • Feb 3, 2007
    • #8

    That's good to know it doesn't instantly sound odd or blatantley wrong. Yeah, the two word, "most lovely" sounds and feels very strong when I sing it. The loveliest forces me to hang on the "uh" vowel which is not strong and string one word out over too long of phrase.

    Thanks ~

    I write songs, too, so I think about these stressed and unstressed syllables a lot. I know exactly what you mean. Superlative: most lovely or loveliest? (8)

    panjandrum

    Senior Member

    Belfast, Ireland

    English-Ireland (top end)

    • Feb 3, 2007
    • #9

    sloopjc said:

    The use of 'most' anything is Old English. "Most excellent" for example is Shakespeare personified, and not slang from the movie, "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure".

    I don't think "most" before an adjective is Old English? For current usage, there is a useful generalisation in the comparative and superlative of "often", post #8:

    The general rule is that you add -er and -est if the adjective/adverb consists of one syllable (faster, fastest; quicker, quickest; bigger, biggest; fatter, fattest) or is a two-syllable adjective ending in y (happier, happiest; funnier, funniest; rowdier, rowdiest). For other two-syllable adjectives/adverbs and adjectives/adverbs with three or more syllables, you use "more" and "most."

    This is a guide, not an unbreakable rule. Where the euphony of the sentence demands it, more and most with two syllable words is perfectly OK. Even more when the senses of the song-writer demand it Superlative: most lovely or loveliest? (10)

    W

    wordsareforpeople

    New Member

    United States

    • Feb 3, 2007
    • #10

    JamesM said:

    I write songs, too, so I think about these stressed and unstressed syllables a lot. I know exactly what you mean. Superlative: most lovely or loveliest? (11)

    cool.

    W

    wordsareforpeople

    New Member

    United States

    • Feb 3, 2007
    • #11

    panjandrum said:

    I don't think "most" before an adjective is Old English? For current usage, there is a useful generalisation in the comparative and superlative of "often"[/URL], post #8:

    This is a guide, not an unbreakable rule. Where the euphony of the sentence demands it, more and most with two syllable words is perfectly OK. Even more when the senses of the song-writer demand it Superlative: most lovely or loveliest? (12)

    That's what had me worried initially is the "y" = iest in two syllable superlatives rule.

    I certainly don't just want people to tell me what I want to hear (although that'd be easier) but it seems as though the consensus so far is that it isn't too weird, especially for a song.

    panjandrum

    Senior Member

    Belfast, Ireland

    English-Ireland (top end)

    • Feb 3, 2007
    • #12

    Does it make you more comfortable to know that the British National Corpus includes 90 examples of loveliest, 20 of most lovely?

    W

    wordsareforpeople

    New Member

    United States

    • Feb 3, 2007
    • #13

    panjandrum said:

    Does it make you more comfortable to know that the British National Corpus includes 90 examples of loveliest, 20 of most lovely?

    it would've been nice to have those numbers switched but i'll take what i can get. who likes revision? Superlative: most lovely or loveliest? (14)

    S

    sloopjc

    Senior Member

    UK English

    • Feb 3, 2007
    • #16

    I didn't suggest that it was exclusively OE. I said it was OE. That is to say, it comes from Old English. A misunderstanding, never mind.

    panjandrum

    Senior Member

    Belfast, Ireland

    English-Ireland (top end)

    • Feb 3, 2007
    • #17

    Sorry sloopjc, I misunderstood, you misunderstood, we misunderstood ... Superlative: most lovely or loveliest? (17)

    L

    liulia

    Senior Member

    Ireland

    English/French

    • Feb 3, 2007
    • #18

    It sounds lovely to me!Superlative: most lovely or loveliest? (18)
    Much more emphatic, somehow, and certainly more poetic than "loveliest".

    AngelEyes

    Senior Member

    Detroit, Michigan

    English - United States

    • Feb 3, 2007
    • #19

    Wordsarefor people,

    I write songs, too. I think your term most lovely is very pretty, even without hearing the notes it's written for. Superlative: most lovely or loveliest? (20)

    The "M" sound you get with using "most lovely" is much softer to the ear. The sound you hear matches the soft emotion you're trying to create.

    If you use "loveliest", you lose that "M" sound and replace it with "est". Which isn't bad, but it doesn't have the "MMM" feeling that's more sensual in nature.

    Now, I take this all back if your song is more up-tempo in nature. But if it's a love song that's smooth and gentle, I'd go with the "M" word.

    That's probably an overly critically-driven examination of why I like your original choice. I just think the sounds our lips make forming the words can accompany or detract from the emotion we're trying to inspire.

    Besides, you're the writer...make your own artistic impact. Superlative: most lovely or loveliest? (21)

    AngelEyes

    M

    mplsray

    Senior Member

    Minneapolis, Minnesota USA

    English, USA

    • Feb 3, 2007
    • #20

    panjandrum said:

    I don't think "most" before an adjective is Old English? For current usage, there is a useful generalisation in the comparative and superlative of "often", post #8:

    This is a guide, not an unbreakable rule. Where the euphony of the sentence demands it, more and most with two syllable words is perfectly OK. Even more when the senses of the song-writer demand it Superlative: most lovely or loveliest? (22)

    The rule given is incomplete. A better rule is shown here.

    AngelEyes

    Senior Member

    Detroit, Michigan

    English - United States

    • Feb 3, 2007
    • #21

    JamesM said:

    "THEE most LOVEly DRESS i've EVer SEEN" has a great musical rhythm to it. Superlative: most lovely or loveliest? (24)

    JamesM,

    I could almost waltz on the cadence of your words.Superlative: most lovely or loveliest? (25)

    And that's the point. Listeners sometimes don't even realize they're not hearing the most correct word usage in a song.

    Not if it makes them feel good.

    AngelEyes

    1

    . 1

    Banned

    Ferntree Gully

    Australian Australia

    • Feb 3, 2007
    • #22

    The use of uncommon word patterns in a song or poem allows the audience more room to fit their own interpretation.
    You already know that your combination is easier to sing and enunciate and this gives the artist the ability to interpret the piece as it is performed.
    Lovliest is a most abrupt word to use to express a gentle emotion, it is almost covered in sharp edges when compared to the most lovely most lovely.

    .,,

    panjandrum

    Senior Member

    Belfast, Ireland

    English-Ireland (top end)

    • Feb 4, 2007
    • #23

    Before we condemn poor loveliest as being completely unpoetic, it might perhaps be worth noting:
    LOVELIEST of trees, the cherry now
    Is hung with bloom along the bough,
    And stands about the woodland ride
    Wearing white for Eastertide.
    A Shropshire Lad, AE Housman

    S

    sloopjc

    Senior Member

    UK English

    • Feb 4, 2007
    • #24

    And not forgetting:

    “Bring her the loveliest rose in the world; one which exhibits the purest and brightest love..."

    "The Loveliest Rose in the World"
    by Hans Christian Andersen

    1

    . 1

    Banned

    Ferntree Gully

    Australian Australia

    • Feb 4, 2007
    • #25

    panjandrum said:

    Before we condemn poor loveliest as being completely unpoetic, it might perhaps be worth noting:
    LOVELIEST of trees, the cherry now
    Is hung with bloom along the bough,
    And stands about the woodland ride
    Wearing white for Eastertide.
    A Shropshire Lad, AE Housman

    Most lovely of trees, the cherry now
    Is hung with bloom along the bough,
    And stands about the woodland ride
    Wearing white for Eastertide.

    I think that this scans more easily and is far easier to enunciate.

    sloopjc said:

    And not forgetting:

    “Bring her the loveliest rose in the world; one which exhibits the purest and brightest love..."

    "The Loveliest Rose in the World"
    by Hans Christian Andersen

    “Bring her the most lovely rose in the world; one which exhibits the purest and brightest love..."

    "The Most Lovely Rose in the World"
    The Loveliest Rose in the World brings haunting echoes of The Loneliest Rose in the World.

    There is also a hint of testing that is absent with most lovely.

    .,,

    AngelEyes

    Senior Member

    Detroit, Michigan

    English - United States

    • Feb 4, 2007
    • #26

    These aren't lyrics, though, are they? Maybe they are.

    If set to music, I would think the key the song is written in, the mood of the melody...these added items would maybe lend a strong element to your decision which words to use.

    Aside from that, these quotes or excerpts really are quite lovely. Superlative: most lovely or loveliest? (28)

    AngelEyes

    W

    wordsareforpeople

    New Member

    United States

    • Feb 4, 2007
    • #27

    Thanks everyone for the input. I haven't been getting emails alerting me of posts for some reason. Anyway...

    I think I'll stick w/most lovely. It is actually an uptempo tune but very sweet/folk/poppy kind of feel. The recording is not yet finished but when it is I'll post a link or something.

    What a great forum.

    Much thanks!

    W.A.F.P.

    Sentimental Groove

    New Member

    Tagalog

    • Aug 18, 2021
    • #28

    Hi guys! I too used it in a stanza of my song:

    The strength I’ll find almost divine
    The world conspires to yield once mine
    Your sweetest name, most lovely face.
    My solitude, my peaceful place

    Is this acceptable?

    < Video link removed. Cagey, moderator >

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