preeminent
adjective
Did you know?
What is noteworthy about the following sentence? "Denali Mountain is a prominent eminence on the Alaskan landscape." You very likely recognized two words that are closely related to preeminent: prominent and eminence. All three words are rooted in the Latin verb stem -minēre, meaning "to stand out." Mount is also a related word: it comes from Latin mont- or mons, meaning "mountain," which shares a common ancestor with -minēre. Mount leads us in turn to paramount, a word closely related in meaning to preeminent.
Examples of preeminent in a Sentence
Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 1 Dec. 2025
At necessary moments in my life, Tom Stoppard, the preeminent British playwright who died last Saturday, has popped up like one of his frenetic characters, spouting enigmatic lines and leaving me thrilled, confused, and somehow heartened.
—Adam Begley, The Atlantic, 1 Dec. 2025
In the finale, Poker Face drops the bomb that Harrison was also playing the world’s preeminent assassin, the Iguana, who befriended Charlie in order to find the mob snitch the Iguana was hired to kill.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025
Meanwhile the world’s preeminent military – the US – isn’t keeping up, according to a June report from the Heritage Foundation think tank.
—Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 27 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for preeminent
Cite this Entry
“Preeminent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/preeminent. Accessed 7 Dec. 2025.
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preeminent
adjective
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