preeminent

adjective

pre·​em·​i·​nent prē-ˈe-mə-nənt 

: having paramount rank, dignity, or importance : outstanding, supreme

preeminently adverb

Did you know?

What is noteworthy about the following sentence? "Denali Mountain is a prominent eminence on the Alaskan landscape." You very likely recognized two words that are closely related to preeminent: prominent and eminence. All three words are rooted in the Latin verb stem -minēre, meaning "to stand out." Mount is also a related word: it comes from Latin mont- or mons, meaning "mountain," which shares a common ancestor with -minēre. Mount leads us in turn to paramount, a word closely related in meaning to preeminent.

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
• overriding
• paramount
• predominant
• premier
• primal
• primary
• principal
• prior
• sovereign
• sovran
• supreme

Examples of preeminent in a Sentence

She's the preeminent chef in a city that has many good ones.

The poem is a preeminent example of his work.

Recent Examples on the Web

Founded in 1987 as the preeminent international membership organization for galleries, dealers, and publishers specializing in prints and editions, the IFPDA Print Fair is the longest-running and largest international art fair dedicated to prints and editions. —Natasha Gural, Forbes.com, 29 Mar. 2025

Our Nation's Courts are broken, with New York and D.C. being the most preeminent of all in their Corruption and Radicalism. —Ron Estes, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Mar. 2025

At that point, the quartet was adjusting to life after Syd Barrett, the frontman whose songs had positioned his group as one of England’s preeminent psychedelic bands before his erratic behavior prompted Pink Floyd to fire him. —Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 28 Mar. 2025

Elizabeth Giorgis, a scholar who left her banking job to study African modernism and Ethiopian art history, and went on to become one of the preeminent experts in her field, died on March 16 in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. —Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 27 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Late Latin praeeminent-, praeeminens, from Latin, present participle of praeeminēre to be outstanding, from prae- + eminēre to stand out — more at eminent

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for preeminent

• eminent
• remanent

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Kids Definition

preeminent

adjective

pre·​em·​i·​nent prē-ˈem-ə-nənt 

: having supreme rank, dignity, or importance : outstanding

preeminently adverb