preeminent

adjective

prē-ˈe-mə-nənt How to pronounce preeminent (audio)
Definition of preeminentnext
1
as in greatest
coming before all others in importance the preeminent reason for the booming economy

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in chief
highest in rank or authority the preeminent golfer of his generation

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in outstanding
standing above others in rank, importance, or achievement a meeting of preeminent scientists from around the world

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of preeminent Martin didn’t set out to become the preeminent silver colorist. — Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 25 Sep. 2026 The nation’s preeminent public university, the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, has offered Creole courses at its main campus in the nation’s capital for more than a decade. — Kendall Medford, The Conversation, 25 Sep. 2026 Over the past 25 years, Lord and Miller have built a unique career that established them as some of Hollywood’s preeminent filmmakers in multiple mediums. — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 18 Sep. 2026 Legacy The Art of War remains one of China’s preeminent works of military theory and has developed an extensive tradition of textual study and commentary. — Ethan Teekah, Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for preeminent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for preeminent
  1. main
  2. chief
  3. outstanding
  4. primary
  5. foremost
  6. distinguished
  7. dominant
  8. commanding
Adjective
  • Saudi Arabia kept its main international airport closed and moved Riyadh schools online on Sunday after a deadly strike by Yemen’s Houthi rebels the day before.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 Oct. 2026
  • Our main focus is on J & J’s Innovative Medicine pharma segment.
    — Zev Fima,Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of main
Adjective
  • Misheck Mutize, AfCRA’s chief architect, acknowledged that the agency’s main role would be to steer Africa’s $4 trillion savings into African assets rather than changing how foreign investors see the continent.
    — Tiisetso Motsoeneng, semafor.com, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Andrew Garfield stars as Altman, with Anora‘s Yura Borisov playing Ilya Sutskever, the chief scientific officer and co-founder of OpenAI who fires Altman.
    — Abid Rahman, HollywoodReporter, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of chief
Adjective
  • Widespread discourse about the former rural doctor’s habit of suing patients over unpaid medical bills primed the internet to take notice when Marshall was confronted with an outstanding bill of his own in a Facebook post that quickly went viral.
    — Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Hartbower had an outstanding felony arrest warrant on an assault charge out of Yuba City, in neighboring Sutter County, and was on post-release community supervision in Yuba County, police said.
    — Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of outstanding
Adjective
  • Steve Sarkisian will not budge on this issue One of the primary reasons Manning chose to attend Texas was Sarkisian.
    — Mac Engel October 10, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Oct. 2026
  • Flooding rains will be a primary concern, with several showers from Rachel having already reached the United States shoreline as of 2 pm Saturday.
    — Sean Macaday, Sacbee.com, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of primary
Adjective
  • Considered the foremost institution for Asian art in the United States, this additional space will give the museum more room to display roughly 4,000 historic and contemporary works from its more than 21,000-piece collection of Asian artists.
    — Francesca Aton, ARTnews.com, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Seeing the internet’s foremost disciple of glow meet the internet’s foremost purveyor of good lighting, though, feels quite satisfying—who else needs another excuse to update that Sephora cart?
    — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of foremost
Adjective
  • Brown and Martin have also each earned the IBMA’s distinguished achievement award.
    — Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 8 Oct. 2026
  • The Bangkok outpost in the Ratchadamri shopping district draws distinguished guests who zip around the city via the connecting BTS Skytrain station.
    — Condé Nast, cntraveler.com, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of distinguished
Adjective
  • Replicants are also looking for their identity as the dominant species, and if God made humans in his image as humans did for Replicants — well, some Replicants might want to find out how to become gods.
    — Joshua Rivera, Vulture, 11 Oct. 2026
  • Then Oklahoma State finished their upset bid in week two behind a dominant offensive performance.
    — Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of dominant
Adjective
  • Kirkwood had a commanding lead before Palou's spin caused a caution.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 23 Aug. 2026
  • Adrián Marín set up the play with his pass to Tiago as Orlando took what seemed to be a commanding lead in the second half.
    — Kyle Foley, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of commanding

Browse Nearby Words

preeminences
preeminent
preempt
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Preeminent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/preeminent. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Why do we call it a 'flea market'?
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All