predominant

adjective pre·dom·i·nant \-nənt\

: more important, powerful, successful, or noticeable than other people or things

Full Definition of PREDOMINANT

: having superior strength, influence, or authority : prevailing

: being most frequent or common

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Origin of PREDOMINANT

Middle French, from Medieval Latin praedominant-, praedominans, present participle of praedominari to predominate, from Latin prae- + dominari to rule, govern — more at dominate

First Known Use: 1576

Related to PREDOMINANT

Synonyms: arch, big, capital, cardinal, central, chief, dominant, first, grand, great, greatest, highest, key, leading, main, master, number one (also No. 1), numero uno, overbearing, overmastering, overriding, paramount, foremost, preeminent, premier, primal, primary, principal, prior, sovereign (also sovran), supreme

Antonyms: last, least

Synonym Discussion of PREDOMINANT

dominant, predominant, paramount, preponderant mean superior to all others in influence or importance. dominant applies to something that is uppermost because ruling or controlling <a dominant social class>. predominant applies to something that exerts, often temporarily, the most marked influence <a predominant emotion>. paramount implies supremacy in importance, rank, or jurisdiction <unemployment was the paramount issue in the campaign>. preponderant applies to an element or factor that outweighs all others in influence or effect <preponderant evidence in her favor>.