Like adjectives, many adverbs can show degrees of comparison, although it’s slightly less common to use them this way. With certain flat adverbs (adverbs that look exactly the same as their adjective counterparts), the comparative and superlative forms look the same as the adjective comparative and superlative forms. It’s usually better to use stronger, more precise adverbs (or stronger, more precise adjectives and verbs) than to rely on comparative and superlative adverbs.
An absolute or positive adverb describes something in its own right:
He smiled warmly.
They asked me to deliver a hastily written note.
To make the comparative form of an adverb that ends in -ly, add the word more:
He smiled more warmly than the others.
The more hastily written note contained the clue.
To make the superlative form of an adverb that ends in -ly, add the word most:
He smiled most warmly of them all.
The most hastily written note on the desk was overlooked.
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