Synonym Chooser

How is the word dominant different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of dominant are paramount, predominant, and preponderant. While all these words mean "superior to all others in influence or importance," dominant applies to something that is uppermost because ruling or controlling.

a dominant social class

When is paramount a more appropriate choice than dominant?

While in some cases nearly identical to dominant, paramount implies supremacy in importance, rank, or jurisdiction.

unemployment was the paramount issue in the campaign

When is it sensible to use predominant instead of dominant?

The words predominant and dominant can be used in similar contexts, but predominant applies to something that exerts, often temporarily, the most marked influence.

a predominant emotion

When would preponderant be a good substitute for dominant?

While the synonyms preponderant and dominant are close in meaning, preponderant applies to an element or factor that outweighs all others in influence or effect.

preponderant evidence in her favor

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 dominant The 24-time grand slam winner was utterly dominant throughout, facing just one break point all game. Jamie Barton, CNN Money, 1 June 2025 Both teams used a dominant run in the playoffs to get to this point, setting up what should be an entertaining series of basketball. Matt Levine, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 June 2025 To coach Tyler Marsh, connecting with this dominant version of Cardoso isn’t just a tactical challenge — it’s entirely predicated on the center’s mental approach. Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 31 May 2025 But perhaps the most dominant aspect of the win came on the defensive end. Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 23 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for dominant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dominant
Adjective
  • The golden flying snake bears two main color morphs — a green-yellow form sports bold black streaks and occasional reddish dorsal spots, and another form where the same base hues are overlaid with subtler crossbars.
    Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 31 May 2025
  • It was later expanded to include four main ventilation channels (and some 50,000 smaller shafts) serving seven levels, which could be closed off from the inside with a large rolling stone.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 31 May 2025
Adjective
  • But the predominant theme of the debate was Cuomo facing attacks from the eight other candidates, who laced into him on everything from public safety and education to affordable housing production and the ex-governor’s integrity.
    Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 5 June 2025
  • Apparently natural selection among the Uru, Aymara and Quechua peoples of the Bolivian Altiplano took DNA sequences that are present but rare in other populations around the world and increased their frequency to the point where the normally uncommon sequences are predominant in these groups.
    Kermit Pattison, Scientific American, 20 May 2025
Adjective
  • The gluteus medius muscle, a smaller buttock muscle located underneath the gluteus maximus, is the primary muscle supporting the pelvis. 4.
    Aubrey Bailey, Verywell Health, 5 June 2025
  • Musk has said that Tesla is testing driverless vehicles in that market, but its primary competitor Waymo is already operating a major commercial robotaxi service there in partnership with Uber.
    Lora Kolodny,Chris Eudaily, CNBC, 5 June 2025
Adjective
  • Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders.
    Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 5 June 2025
  • The foremost conflict playing out across the Middle East today is between Israel and Iran, a nation that already possesses a sophisticated and large-scale nuclear program.
    Tom O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 June 2025
Adjective
  • Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.
    Hannah Allam, ProPublica, 31 May 2025
  • The judge will be left to decide how the company should be punished, concluding the biggest tech antitrust case in 25 years.
    Jaclyn Diaz, NPR, 30 May 2025
Adjective
  • Shue returned to acting in the 2010s and has had leading roles on several shows — including Super Pumped, On the Verge, The Boys and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation — as well as in films such as Battle of the Sexes (2019), Greyhound (2020) and The Good Half (2023).
    Keith Langston, People.com, 1 June 2025
  • This was bricolage in the mode of postmodernism, to use a term that Jencks had a leading role in propagating, defining it in multiple competing and overlapping (some would say maddening) ways.
    Glenn Adamson, Artforum, 1 June 2025
Adjective
  • Her hard work and achievements paid off when, in 1983, Louisiana State University Medical Center hired her to become the nation’s first woman to lead a cardiovascular surgery division.
    Jan Goldsmith, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 June 2025
  • Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
    Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 6 June 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Dominant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dominant. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on dominant

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!