Word
最高
Meaning in Englishhighest, best, supreme
Animated kanji stroke order
Word context
What it means
最高 (saikou) means the superlative 'the best' or 'the highest' and denotes the ultimate degree, quality, or level of something in judgment or measurement.
Main meanings
- Colloquial interjection meaning 'awesome' or strong praise, used to applaud experiences or things.
- Numeric or measurable maximum — the top value in a scale, such as a peak measurement or record.
- Institutional sense referring to the supreme position or top authority in a hierarchy.
- Attributive use to mark top-ranked categories, brands, or grades when qualifying nouns.
How to use it
Common across spoken and written Japanese: frequently used in casual speech as an exclamation, in advertising and reviews to market products, and in technical or legal contexts to indicate maximum values or supreme bodies; grammatically it appears with the copula (だ (da)/です (desu)) for statements, with the particle の (no) to modify nouns, and alone as an emphatic interjection.
Variants and close terms
- 最上 (saijou) — supreme, topmost
- 最高級 (saikoukyuu) — top-class, highest grade
- 最低 (saitei) — lowest (antonym)
- すごい (sugoi) — amazing, impressive (colloquial synonym in praise)
Composition
- 最 (sai) — 'most', 'utmost', a superlative marker.
- 高 (kou) — 'high', 'tall', 'elevated'.
- Combined literally as 'most high', producing the modern meaning 'highest' or 'supreme'.
Word class
noun / na-adjective (名詞・形容動詞)
Related words by kanji and components
N1
高原
kougen
tableland, plateau
N1
高尚
koushou
high, noble, refined
N1
最善
saizen
the very best
N1
残高
zandaka
(bank) balance, remainder
N1
名高い
nadakai
famous, celebrated, well-known
N2
高～
kou～
high (level) ~
N2
高級
koukyuu
high class; first-rate
N2
高層
kousou
tall, high rise
N2
高度
koudo
altitude, height; advanced