In this paper, we investigate the semantics of the adjectival suffix -ovat in Russian. We argue that this suffix constitutes a morphological degree modifier and propose for it a formal analysis formulated within the framework of degree semantics. The suffix specifies that the degree to which a property holds of an object is slightly higher than the standard of comparison. A detailed consideration of different types of adjectives and standards of comparison available for these adjectives, in combination with the proposed analysis, allows us to account for the distribution of the suffix and for the range of arising interpretations.