preponderant

adjective

pre·​pon·​der·​ant pri-ˈpän-d(ə-)rənt How to pronounce preponderant (audio)
1
: having superior weight, force, or influence
2
: having greater prevalence
preponderantly adverb
Choose the Right Synonym for preponderant

dominant, predominant, paramount, preponderant mean superior to all others in influence or importance.

dominant applies to something that is uppermost because ruling or controlling.

a dominant social class

predominant applies to something that exerts, often temporarily, the most marked influence.

a predominant emotion

paramount implies supremacy in importance, rank, or jurisdiction.

unemployment was the paramount issue in the campaign

preponderant applies to an element or factor that outweighs all others in influence or effect.

preponderant evidence in her favor

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web The relevance and recent growth of regional Mexican music has become undeniable, and today, the genre holds a preponderant place within the industry. Tere Aguilera, Billboard, 16 Mar. 2023 But last week in PLoS ONE a paper looking at the patterns of ancestry in the Brazilian population came to a somewhat inverseconclusion as to the self-conception or perception of the preponderant racial identity of that nation. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 25 Feb. 2011 Our prior expectation should be that the admixture is non-trivial, though not preponderant. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 23 Apr. 2012 The authors have no explanation for the apparent lack of awareness for this widely preponderant syndrome and its severe cosmetically disfiguring potential. Ncbi Rofl, Discover Magazine, 12 Feb. 2013 Under federal law, race cannot be a preponderant motive in drawing a district, wrote Dr. Cervas, a fellow at Carnegie Mellon University. Jimmy Vielkind And Eliza Collins, WSJ, 21 May 2022 In theory the Russian and Indian constitutions are religiously neutral, but in practice each has a preponderant faith (respectively Orthodox Christianity and Hinduism), and both religious minorities and secularists complain of discrimination. The Economist, 14 Dec. 2020 What remains a preponderant complexity is just when optimal dirt shoveling occurs. Ian Allen, The New Republic, 12 Aug. 2020 Indeed, by election eve, Democrats, in the preponderant manner of the 2016 campaign, had raised a record $1 billion for state, House, and Senate midterm races, with hundreds of millions more garnered by the progressive political-action committees. Victor Davis Hanson, National Review, 17 Mar. 2020 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'preponderant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of preponderant was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near preponderant

Cite this Entry

“Preponderant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/preponderant. Accessed 29 Mar. 2023.

Kids Definition

preponderant

adjective
pre·​pon·​der·​ant pri-ˈpän-d(ə-)rənt How to pronounce preponderant (audio)
1
: having greater weight, force, or influence : predominant
2
: having greater frequency
preponderantly adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on preponderant

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!


What Did You Just Call Me?

  • brown chihuahua sitting on the floor with squinting eyes looking at the camera
  • Before we went to her house, Hannah told us her aunt was a flibbertigibbet.
Name That Thing

You know what it looks like… but what is it called?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can with using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.

Can you make 12 words with 7 letters?

PLAY