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I wish to know if it is okay to use "away" after the superlative/comparative forms of "Far" since I have come across this sentence:

I am the farthest from the grace of my family members.

Is this ungrammatical? Should I use "away" after it?

I'm farther (away) from him than you.

I'm the farthest (away) from them at the party.

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I am far from X - X can be a person/place/thing to express physical distance; or X can be status or emotion to say you are not X, like I am far from angry. I'm actually very pleased.

I am away from X - X can only be a person/place/thing to express physical distance.

I am far away from X - Same as I am away from X, though it can sometimes be used like I am far from X to indicate emphasis.

All your uses are correct.

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"Far" and its comparative and superlative may work with or without "away."

To my ear, the "away" forms sound more common than the other, which seems old fashioned, but this perception may reflect mere regional differences or a difference between written and spoken English. Ngram, however, disagrees with me and shows "farthest from" as being considerably more common in written English than "farthest away from."

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away from = far from = far away from

1. A is away from B.

= A is far from B. (e.g., "That's far from here!")

= A is far far away from B.

Note : Far from (idiom) : not at all.

e.g., "Hearing the news, she was far from disappointed."

"He's not handsome - far from it."

farther from = farther away from

  1. C is farther from D.

= C is farther away from D.

farthest from = farthest away from

  1. X is farthest from Y.

= X is farthest away from Y.

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  • I don't think "away from" and "far from" have the same meaning. "Away from" simply means that there is some, undefined distance between two objects. "Far from" means that there is a far distance between them - I might put my USB stick away from my computer, but if they're both on the same desk, they're not exactly far from one another.
    – nick012000
    Commented May 23, 2020 at 12:39
  • "Far away' is a commonly used phrase. The use of 'away' should be unaffected by its change to comparative or superlative forms, like farther, or farthest.
    – Ram Pillai
    Commented May 23, 2020 at 13:42

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