dominant

adjective dom·i·nant \ -nənt \

Updated on: 17 Apr 2018

Definition of dominant

1 a : commanding, controlling, or prevailing over all others

the dominant culture

b : very important, powerful, or successful

a dominant theme

a dominant industry

the team's dominant performance

2 : overlooking and commanding from a superior position

a dominant hill

3 : of, relating to, or exerting ecological or genetic dominance

dominant genes

dominant and recessive traits

4 biology : being the one of a pair of bodily structures that is the more effective or predominant in action

dominant eye

used her dominant hand

—

dominantly

adverb

See dominant defined for English-language learners

See dominant defined for kids

Examples of dominant in a Sentence

The company is now dominant in its market.
It is the dominant culture in the region.
the dominant female of the pack

Recent Examples of dominant from the Web

McNeil became even more dominant this season, leading Franklin to a second consecutive Class 3A state title.

— jeff seidel, baltimoresun.com, "2017-18 All-Metro girls indoor track and field Performer of the Year: Nyjari McNeil, Franklin," 10 Apr. 2018
The bullpen has been mostly dominant, however, posting a 1.32 ERA over 27 1/3 innings.

— tom haudricourt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Cardinals 6, Brewers 0: Cards righty Carlos Martinez assures there would be no comeback," 4 Apr. 2018
The machine is an ever-present reminder of the state’s most dominant, and powerful, industry.

— moriah balingit, Washington Post, "‘It just hurts my heart’: Low pay, big classes are the plight of Oklahoma teachers," 30 Mar. 2018
Female lynx are thought to mate with just one male a year, says Crowley, so the bigger—and dominant—male had probably run the other cat up the tree to protect his breeding opportunity.

— jason bittel, National Geographic, "Hear the Otherworldly Screams of Lynx in Battle," 28 Mar. 2018
Augie Mihlbauer took over for starter Jared Janczak in the sixth and struck out four over 2 1/3 dominant, scoreless innings.

— stefan stevenson, star-telegram, "Luken Baker's two-run bomb starts Big 12 play on right foot for TCU | Fort Worth Star-Telegram," 23 Mar. 2018
Then there’s the driver who has been the most dominant this season, Kevin Harvick.

— charlotteobserver, "NASCAR’s changing of the guard was supposed to come in 2018. Not so fast. | Charlotte Observer," 22 Mar. 2018
By the end of the film, Lara has become dominant, fighting a ruthless archeologist (Walton Goggins) and saving the world from the scourge of that Japanese death queen.

— josh spiegel, The Hollywood Reporter, "The Scenes 'Tomb Raider' Raids from 'Indiana Jones'," 17 Mar. 2018
Top line dominant, again: The Florida top line with Evgenii Dadonov, Barkov and Bjugstad continues to lead the Panthers charge late in the season.

— erik erlendsson, miamiherald, "This player’s hat trick helps Panthers pick up valuable point in playoff chase | Miami Herald," 6 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dominant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of dominant

Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin dominant-, dominans, present participle of dominari — see dominate

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1532

See Words from the same year

dominant Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of dominant

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

Other Genetics Terms

chimera, hermaphrodite, plasticity

dominant

noun

Definition of dominant

1 music : the fifth tone of a major or minor scale (see ⁶scale 2)

2 a genetics : a character or factor that exerts genetic dominance (see dominance 1b)

b ecology : any of one or more kinds of organism (such as a species) in an ecological community that exerts a controlling influence on the environment and thereby largely determines what other kinds of organisms are present

dominant conifers

c sociology : an individual having a controlling, prevailing, or powerful position in a social hierarchy : a dominant (see ¹dominant 1) individual in a social hierarchy

Recent Examples of dominant from the Web

Early in January, the previous version of this team went through growing pains trying to integrate ball-dominant Isaiah Thomas.

— chris fedor, cleveland.com, "LeBron James splits defenders with fancy behind-the-back dribble through Tristan Thompson's legs (video)," 2 Mar. 2018
Not that the Steelers wouldn't take a dominant, Brown-esque day of production from Martavis Bryant or JuJu Smith-Schuster, but Pittsburgh is probably going to depend on a by-committee approach accentuated by some sporadic playmaking.

— jacob klinger | jklinger@pennlive.com, cleveland.com, "Steelers vs Texans: 6 keys to Pittsburgh beating Houston," 24 Dec. 2017
Also, right-handed people are usually left-leg dominant.

— profootballdoc, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Finding the good (or not as bad as it could be) in Deshaun Watson's injury," 3 Nov. 2017
Christian Brothers: The Oregon commit is as dominant of a tight end as this area has seen.

— joe davidson, sacbee, "Sizing up Bee Player of the Year race: ‘He’s the best player ... bar none.’," 2 Nov. 2017
The Jags are run-dominant and are toast if rookie Leonard Fournette gets hurt.

— george diaz, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Bucs, Jaguars flip expectations in Bizarro World start to NFL season," 19 Oct. 2017
Fans had a love/hate relationship with Jackson’s ball-dominant, over-dribbling game.

— vince ellis, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit Pistons' Reggie Jackson shares in win: 'Good to have him back'," 19 Oct. 2017
For about a month during the 2015 season, Young was as dominant a pass rusher as anyone in college football.

— steve jones, The Courier-Journal, "Ranking Louisville football's 10 best players in 2017 | Steve Jones," 22 Aug. 2017
Dominant in the air against most opponents and also a lethal poacher, Icardi will be supplied with crosses from both wings.

— SI.com, "Inter vs Fiorentina Match Preview: Pre-Season Form, Key Battle, Team News and More," 19 Aug. 2017

Origin and Etymology of dominant

see ¹dominant

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1819

See Words from the same year

Other Genetics Terms

chimera, hermaphrodite, plasticity

DOMINANT Defined for English Language Learners

dominant

adjective

Definition of dominant for English Language Learners

: more important, powerful, or successful than most or all others
: most common
biology : causing or relating to a characteristic or condition that a child will have if one of the child's parents has it

DOMINANT Defined for Kids

dominant

adjective dom·i·nant \ ˈdä-mə-nənt \

Definition of dominant for Students

1 : controlling or being more powerful or important than all others

The team is dominant in its league.

2 : being or produced by a form of a gene that prevents or hides the effect of another form

A dominant gene produces brown eye color.

Medical Dictionary

dominant

adjective dom·i·nant \ -nənt \

medical Definition of dominant

1 : exerting forcefulness or having dominance in a social hierarchy

2 : being the one of a pair of bodily structures that is the more effective or predominant in action

the dominant eye

3 : of, relating to, or exerting genetic dominance

—

dominantly

adverb

dominant

noun

medical Definition of dominant

1 : a dominant genetic character or factor

2 : a dominant individual in a social hierarchy

Learn More about dominant

See words that rhyme with dominant Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for dominant Spanish Central: Translation of dominant Nglish: Translation of dominant for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of dominant for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about dominant

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dominant

Definition of dominant

dominantly

Examples of dominant in a Sentence

Recent Examples of dominant from the Web

Origin and Etymology of dominant

dominant Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

Synonym Discussion of dominant

Other Genetics Terms

dominant

Definition of dominant

Recent Examples of dominant from the Web

Origin and Etymology of dominant

Other Genetics Terms

DOMINANT Defined for English Language Learners

dominant

Definition of dominant for English Language Learners

DOMINANT Defined for Kids

dominant

Definition of dominant for Students

Medical Dictionary

dominant

medical Definition of dominant

dominantly

dominant

medical Definition of dominant

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