preeminent
adjective
Did you know?
What is noteworthy about the following sentence? "Mount Kilimanjaro is a prominent eminence on the Tanzanian 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, which is taken to mean "to stand out" though there is no record of its use without a prefix. Mount also deserves an honorable mention: it comes from the Latin mont- or mons, meaning "mountain," which is understood to share 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
Danielle Parker, CBS News, 8 Mar. 2026
Some the game’s preeminent ball strikers have failed to keep pace with Berger.
—Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 7 Mar. 2026
The University of Central Florida is expected to be certified by the Board of Governors as a preeminent state research university later this year.
—Jim Turner, Miami Herald, 4 Mar. 2026
Under the bill, schools that fail to maintain the 95 percent average starting in 2030 would be ineligible for preeminent funding.
—Jim Turner, Sun Sentinel, 3 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for preeminent
Cite this Entry
“Preeminent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/preeminent. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.
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preeminent
adjective
