predominant

adjective pre·dom·i·nant \ pri-ˈdä-mə-nənt , -ˈdäm-nənt \

|Updated on: 10 Jun 2018

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Examples: predominant in a Sentence

Editor's Note: predominant vs. predominate

Definition of predominant

1 : having superior strength, influence, or authority : prevailing

2 : being most frequent or common

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Examples of predominant in a Sentence

Religion is the predominant theme of the play.
She is predominant among new writers.

Recent Examples of predominant from the Web

The image of the conventionally attractive, white female being raped violently in an alley is the predominant social conception of what rape is — which leaves out all of these other women and people who have experienced it.

— jessi roti, chicagotribune.com, "'Take it as a compliment.' The conversations around sexual misconduct and fat bodies," 7 May 2018
Because captive birds tend to be slightly inbred, certain versions of a gene become predominant and can serve as a kind of fingerprint for captivity.

— National Geographic, "This Popular Parrot 'Talks' Like Us. But We're Silencing It.," 21 May 2018
Although men will remain the predominant force U.S. politics, the sheer number of female candidates running will likely lead to greater representation for women in government after the November vote.

— arit john, Bloomberg.com, "In the Year of the Woman, These Are the Races to Watch," 7 May 2018
But there are others: The predominant Cape crab is the spikey green crab, an invasive species introduced via ships 100 years ago.

— susan moeller, BostonGlobe.com, "A beachcombing guide: Things to find at the beach," 2 May 2018
In some parts of the Valley, perennial weeds are likely to be white top; in other parts, the predominant weed is mallow (buttonweed), sowthistle or quackgrass.

— margaret lauterbach, idahostatesman, "Save yourself some work in your garden and with your lawn this year | Idaho Statesman," 2 May 2018
Mar-a-Lago 2018 contains amusingly golf-ball-size notes of sour cherries, intermingled with predominant notes of private-plane fuselage, grass clippings, and Florida lemons.

— junot díaz, The New Yorker, "Tasting Notes for a Teetotalling President," 17 Apr. 2018
The formula for the flu vaccine changes every year based on scientists’ predictions for which strain will be the most predominant.

— kate morgan, The Cut, "What to Know About Influenza B, the ‘Second Wave’ of Flu Season," 4 Apr. 2018
For each of the first five controversies Weber-Shandwick tracked, tech companies were the most predominant industry on the list, at times making up 50 percent or more of responses.

— jena mcgregor, chicagotribune.com, "Why many tech companies that embraced social activism have sat out the gun debate," 30 Mar. 2018

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 vs. predominate

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.

Origin and Etymology 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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1576

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

predominant Synonyms

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.