predominate

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/pɹɪˈdɒmɪneɪt//pɹɪˈdɒmɪnət/

verb

To dominate, have control, or succeed by superior numbers or size.

Meanings

verbpredominate (third-person singular simple present predominates, present participle predominating, simple past and past participle predominated)

present singular third person predominates · participle present predominating · participle past predominated · past predominated · alternative obsolete prædominate

  1. intransitiveTo dominate, have control, or succeed by superior numbers or size.

    These qualities tend to predominate among conservatives but they are present among liberals too.

    2021 April 29, Sabrina Tavernise, “Vaccine Skepticism Was Viewed as a Knowledge Problem. It’s Actually About Gut Beliefs.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 14 Jul 2021
    1 more example

    With economic segregation in the United States worsening, there is likely to be a growing number of school districts where poor children, and poor parents, predominate.

    2018 June 24, Annette Lareau, Elliot B. Weininger and Amanda Barrett Cox, “How Entitled Parents Hurt Schools”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 02 Aug 2019
  2. intransitiveTo be prominent; to loom large; to be the chief component of a whole.

    Thus, even though a total of four lags of inflation enters the right hand side, forward looking behavior still predominates.

    1999, Galí, Jordi and Mark Gertler, “Inflation dynamics: A structural econometric analysis”, in Journal of Monetary Economics, volume 44, page 215
    2 more examples

    All in her mind was confusion; still the paramount sense that predominated over all others, was the bitter conviction of his unworthiness.

    1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Chapter XXXIV. Confidence.”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 296

    During the silk weavers strike on Jersey City Heights and in West Hoboken last Summer, Poidebard's mill was regarded as especially obnoxious by the strikers, and the largely predominating Socialist element among them frequently menaced it with attack.

    1887 March 1, “SHOTS THROUGH A WINDOW.”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 22 Sep 2024
  3. transitiveTo dominate or hold power over, especially through numerical advantage; to outweigh.
adjectivepredominate (comparative more predominate, superlative most predominate)

comparative more predominate · superlative most predominate · alternative obsolete prædominate

  1. proscribedsometimesPredominant.

    Eradication of disorder may indirectly reduce crime by stabilizing neighborhoods, but the direct link as formulated by proponents was not the predominate one in our study.

    1999 11, Robert J. Sampson, Stephen W. Raudenbush, “Systematic Social Observation of Public Spaces: A New Look at Disorder in Urban Neighborhoods”, in American Journal of Sociology, volume 105, number 3, page 637

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivehaving superior power and influence

verbbe larger in number, quantity, power, status or importance

Broader

verbappear very large or occupy a commanding position

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinpraedominātus
  2. Englishpredominate

From Latin praedominātus, past participle of praedominor. By surface analysis, pre- + dominate.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Portuguese predominar, predominar
  • predominarto dominate, succeed by superior numbers
  • predominarto be prominent
Spanish predominar
  • predominarto dominate, succeed by superior numbers

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

predominate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/predominate

MLA

“predominate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/predominate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “predominate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/predominate.

Source: predominate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.