Among Romance adjectives the want of inflexion is more frequent in proportion to the whole number of instances, e.g. ‘the _vein_ honour,’ Prol. 221, ‘the _fals_ emperour,’ Prol. 739, ‘Hire _clos_ Envie,’ ii. 684, &c. In the case of adjectives of more than one syllable, whether English or French, the definite form is exceptional. The commonest case is that of superlatives, in which the definite form _-este_ is regularly used when the accent falls on the termination, whether in rhyme or otherwise, as _faireste_, i. 767, v. 7427, _slyheste_, i. 1442, _wiseste_: _myhtieste_, i. 1097 f., _wofulleste_, vii. 5017. Even when the accent is thrown back, the definite inflexion is more usually given than not, as _faireste_, i. 1804, _hoteste_, i. 2492, _treweste_, ii. 1282, _povereste_, iv. 2238, _heyeste_, vii. 935, but sometimes dropped, as ‘the _purest_ Eir,’ Prol. 921, ‘the _ȝongest_ of hem,’ i. 3133, ‘the _lowest_ of hem alle,’ vii. 224: in all cases, however, where the accent is thrown back, the adjective is followed by a word beginning with a vowel, so that the metre is not affected. Other adjectives of which the termination is capable of accent may take the definite inflexion, when the accent is thrown on the termination, as ‘the _covoitouse_ flaterie,’ ‘this _lecherouse_ pride,’ this _tyrannysshe_ knyht,’ but on the other hand ‘his fals _pitous_ lokynge,’ ‘the _pietous_ Justinian,’ ‘the proude _tyrannyssh_ Romein,’ and cases where the adjective is used as a substantive, ‘the _coveitous_’, ‘This _Envious_,’ ‘_thaverous_,’ &c. We have ‘the _parfite_ medicine,’ iv. 2624 (but ‘the parfit Elixir,’ iv. 2522, with accent thrown back), and ‘O thou _gentile_ Venus,’ viii. 2294; but perhaps _parfite_, _gentile_ are to be regarded as feminine forms, as almost certainly _devolte_, i. 636. Where the final syllable of the adjective is incapable of accent, there is ordinarily no question of a definite inflexion, except where there is syncope after _v_ (_u_), as in _evele_. Such words are _croked_, _wicked_, _cruel_, _litel_, _middel_, _biter_, _dedly_, _lusti_, _sinful(l)_, _wilful_, _woful(l)_, _wrongful_, and we may note that comparatives in _-ere_ and adjectives in _-liche_ (with accent thrown back) sometimes appear in the truncated form of spelling even where a definite termination is suggested by their position, e.g. ‘hire _ȝonger_ Soster,’ v. 5395, ‘hir _goodlych_ yhe,’ ii. 2026, ‘Ha, thou _ungoodlich_ ypocrite,’ v. 6293, ‘hire _dedlich_ yhe,’ vii. 5089 (_-lich_ in these latter cases to avoid the hiatus of ‘ungoodly ypocrite,’ &c.). As an exceptional instance the form _nakede_ should be observed, ‘his _nakede_ arm,’ iv. 421, given so both by F and S.