What does “–ísimo” mean in Spanish?

In Spanish if you want to say, “very, very …” or “extremely …” with adjectives you use the –ísimo ending on the end of any adjective. This blog post looks at how to do this correctly with different endings of adjectives:

Most adjectives:

e.g. caro = expensive

To say “very expensive” or “extremely expensive” you just take off the last –o and add –ísimo. Make sure the ending agrees with the noun depending on if it is masculine, feminine, singular or plural:

El reloj era carísimo.
The watch was really expensive.

La casa es baratísima.
The house is really cheap.

Los niños estaban buenísimos.
The children were really good.

Las botas son elegantísimas.
The boots are extremely smart/elegant.

Adjectives ending in a consonant:

Just add –ísimo onto the end of the word.

El examen fue facilísimo.
The exam was really easy.

Los idiomas son dificilísimas.
Languages are really difficult.

Adjectives with –r in the last syllable:

Replace it with érrimo/a:

libre (free) > libérrimo
celebre (famous) > celebérrimo
mísero (meager) > misérrimo

Adjectives ending in –able:

Adjectives ending with -able become –bilísimo/a:

amable (kind/lovely) > amabilísimo
agradable (nice) > agradabilísimo
responsable (responsible) > responsabilísimo

Adjectives ending in –n, -or or –dor:

Change to –císimo:

trabajador (hardworking) > trabajadorcísimo
superior (superior) > superiorcísimo
joven (young) > jovencito

Common irregular adjectives:

rico (tasty/delicious) > riquísimo
antiguo (old) > antiquísimo
blanco (white) > blanquísimo
caliente (hot) > calentísimo
cómico (funny) > comiquísimo
feliz (happy) > felicísimo
fresco (fresh) > fresquísimo
largo (long) > larguísimo

Note: If you forget how to add –ísimo or what the rule is for an adjective and don’t want to make a mistake you can also just say “muy + adjective” or “sumamente + adjective” (extremely …).