preponderance

noun

pre·​pon·​der·​ance pri-ˈpän-d(ə-)rən(t)s 

1

: a superiority in weight, power, importance, or strength

2

a

: a superiority or excess in number or quantity

b

: majority

Synonyms

• dominance
• superiority
• distinction
• reputation

Examples of preponderance in a Sentence

not since Rome in its glory days had a nation enjoyed such overwhelming military preponderance

a preponderance of the evidence points to the guilt of the defendant

Recent Examples on the Web

Despite President Trump’s focus on diminishing the U.S. trade deficit through a trade war with the world, much of the increase for JFK is in imports while the preponderance of O’Hare’s is imports. —Ken Roberts, Forbes.com, 29 July 2025

That certainly seemed to make sense, and yet the truth of the matter is that the preponderance of large land masses in the Northern Hemisphere works the other way and actually tends to make our northern winters colder and the summers hotter! —Joe Rao, Space.com, 3 July 2025

Thanks to its preponderance of record labels and recording studios, the city has touched seemingly every genre of popular music, from surf rock to heavy metal to West Coast rap. —Nicholas Derenzo, AFAR Media, 21 Mar. 2025

Digital is also a different story; The Tonight Show has 32.7M subscribers on YouTube, Kimmel has 20.7M and The Late Show 9.96M, important metrics given the preponderance of viewers watching these shows the next day via clips. —Peter White, Deadline, 18 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1681, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

preponderance

noun

pre·​pon·​der·​ance pri-ˈpän-d(ə-)rən(t)s 

: a greater quantity, number, weight, or importance

the preponderance of evidence suggests that the accused is guilty