Irregular ComparisonOld English had two superlative inflections, -m and -est. Sometimes these were both affixed to the same word, in a kind of double superlative. The -mest which resulted was confused in people's minds with the adverb most with a consequent change in pronunciation. In Modern English a small number of superlatives retain this -most ending; in some cases the comparative is more or less irregular, and in some the positive or comparative is lacking: