Absolute superlative

Bellissimo! might be what you would say when admiring Michelangelo’s David or a breathtaking view in the Dolomites.  Bellissimo means very beautiful, extremely beautiful: the suffixes -issimo / -issima / -issimi / -issime take the place of very and extremely.  Consider the examples:

To form this superlative, simply drop the last letter of the adjective, as in bello → bell; gentile → gentil, etc., and add the -issimo / -issima / -issimi / -issime forms.

You can also use this superlative for adverbs, such as bene → ben → benissimo,  and male → mal → malissimo.

Notice that:

• there are a few special forms: ottimo is a synonym of buonissimo, and pessimo is a synonym of cattivissimo.
• you cannot use this superlative for adjectives that already have a very strong meaning, such as delizioso, fantastico, meraviglioso, stupendo, orribile and terribile.
• you can either say molto + adjective or adjective + –issimo, but you cannot combine the two forms and say molto gentilissimo, for example.