commanding

adjective

com·​mand·​ing kə-ˈman-diŋ How to pronounce commanding (audio)
1
: drawing attention or priority
a commanding presence
2
: difficult to overcome
a commanding lead
commandingly adverb

Examples of commanding in a Sentence

He has a very commanding voice. She holds a commanding lead in the polls. Our team was in a commanding position as the game neared its end. The castle is in a commanding position at the top of the hill. The hill provides a commanding view of the surrounding countryside.
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
As a result, the Eagles possessed the ball for 12:58 of the 15 minutes in the third to take a commanding lead. Mike Defabo, The Athletic, 16 Dec. 2024 Others won’t want to commit to Microsoft Azure as their cloud platform, despite Microsoft’s commanding lead in generative AI. Kathleen Gallagher, Journal Sentinel, 11 Dec. 2024 Those skids have been greased by internal Canadian political dynamics, with Conservatives holding a commanding lead over Liberals in national polls ahead of a 2025 election. Rafael Bernal, The Hill, 7 Dec. 2024 It’s been a month since Cousins last threw a touchdown pass — a three-game span that’s also seen Atlanta lose three straight and relinquish a commanding lead in the lowly NFC South. Matt Schubert, The Denver Post, 6 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for commanding 

Word History

First Known Use

1591, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of commanding was in 1591

Dictionary Entries Near commanding

Cite this Entry

“Commanding.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/commanding. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

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