Religion is the predominant theme of the play.
She is predominant among new writers.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'predominant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Predominant and predominate are synonymous adjectives. Predominant is the older and much more common form. A number of handbooks and commentators hold predominate to be a mistake—a few insisting that the word is only a verb. But they are wrong. As an adjective predominate is somewhat more likely to turn up in technical writing than in general writing. The adverbs predominantly and predominately are a more even match in frequency than their base adjectives are, although predominantly is still significantly more common than predominately.
arch, big, capital, cardinal, central, chief, dominant, first, foremost, grand, great, greatest, highest, key, leading, main, master, overbearing, overriding, paramount, preeminent, premier, primal, primary, principal, prior, sovereign (also sovran), supreme;
inconsequential, inconsiderable, insignificant, minor, negligible, slight, trifling, trivial, unimportant;
distinguished, eminent, illustrious, noble, notable, noteworthy, outstanding, prestigious, signal, star, stellar, superior;
high-level, senior, top;
important, influential, major, mighty, momentous, significant;
incomparable, matchless, unequaled (or unequalled), unparalleled, unsurpassed;
: more important, powerful, successful, or noticeable than other people or things
See words that rhyme with predominant Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for predominant Spanish Central: Translation of predominant Nglish: Translation of predominant for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of predominant for Arabic speakers
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