preponderant

adjective

pre·​pon·​der·​ant pri-ˈpän-d(ə-)rənt 

1

: having superior weight, force, or influence

2

: having greater prevalence

preponderantly adverb

Choose the Right Synonym for preponderant

dominant, predominant, paramount, preponderant mean superior to all others in influence or importance.

dominant applies to something that is uppermost because ruling or controlling.

a dominant social class

predominant applies to something that exerts, often temporarily, the most marked influence.

a predominant emotion

paramount implies supremacy in importance, rank, or jurisdiction.

unemployment was the paramount issue in the campaign

preponderant applies to an element or factor that outweighs all others in influence or effect.

preponderant evidence in her favor

Examples of preponderant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Market value was preponderant in determining the value of the piece of land that the state deemed worthy of expropriating. —Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2025

But the preponderant migrants’ motivation has been, and continues to be, to provide a better life for their families. —Bill Gray, The Mercury News, 12 Feb. 2025

With preponderant influence in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, Iran is the regional power that has best been able to take advantage of the crisis in the Middle East. —F. Gregory Gause Iii, Foreign Affairs, 22 Feb. 2022

Or, even preponderant effect, seeing as how there will be dilution of the genetic signal along the wave of advance. —Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 19 Jan. 2010

In some regions, obviously Europe itself, but in much of North America, southern South America, parts of southern Africa, and Australia and New Zealand, people of European descent became demographically preponderant. —Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 3 Jan. 2012

The relevance and recent growth of regional Mexican music has become undeniable, and today, the genre holds a preponderant place within the industry. —Tere Aguilera, Billboard, 16 Mar. 2023

But last week in PLoS ONE a paper looking at the patterns of ancestry in the Brazilian population came to a somewhat inverseconclusion as to the self-conception or perception of the preponderant racial identity of that nation. —Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 25 Feb. 2011

Our prior expectation should be that the admixture is non-trivial, though not preponderant. —Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 23 Apr. 2012

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

preponderant

adjective

pre·​pon·​der·​ant pri-ˈpän-d(ə-)rənt 

1

: having greater weight, force, or influence : predominant

2

: having greater frequency

preponderantly adverb