overriding

adjective

over·​rid·​ing ˌō-vər-ˈrī-diŋ 

ˌō-və-

: chief, principal

an overriding concern

Synonyms

• arch
• big
• capital
• cardinal
• central
• chief
• dominant
• first
• foremost
• grand
• great
• greatest
• highest
• key
• leading
• main
• master
• number one
• No. 1
• numero uno
• overbearing
• overmastering
• paramount
• predominant
• preeminent
• premier
• primal
• primary
• principal
• prior
• sovereign
• sovran
• supreme

Examples of overriding in a Sentence

We have one overriding concern.

The weather is the overriding factor in deciding whether to cancel the picnic.

Recent Examples on the Web

Through it all, there is an overriding sense that the world's richest man is using his power over President Donald Trump to steal from the public coffers and enrich himself. —Hannah Parry, Newsweek, 19 Mar. 2025

Trump has abandoned normalization and made countering Iran’s regional advances an overriding priority. —Kian Tajbakhsh, Foreign Affairs, 19 Mar. 2019

While both incidents had different contexts, the overriding sense is that players are isolated. —Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2025

But that salvation is a mirage, one that leaves them vulnerable to the same overriding problem that Americans with traditional insurance rightfully complain about: Their health care is still too damn expensive. —Dylan Scott, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1830, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for overriding

• coinciding
• subdividing
• abiding
• backsliding
• colliding
• confiding
• deciding
• deriding
• dividing
• nitriding
• presiding
• providing