preeminently

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/pɹiːˈɛmɪnəntli/

adverb

In a preeminent manner.

RareScrabble 19

Meanings

adverbpreeminently (comparative more preeminently, superlative most preeminently)

comparative more preeminently · superlative most preeminently · alternative pre-eminently · alternative obsolete preëminently

  1. In a preeminent manner.

    We also want to stress that analytical reading is hardly ever necessary if your goal in reading is simply information or entertainment. Analytical reading is preeminently for the sake of understanding.

    1972, Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren, How to Read a Book, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 19
    1 more example

    [T]he traditional memory of a rural and a sylvan region, such as Warwickshire at that time was, is usually exact as well as tenacious; and, with respect to [William] Shakespeare in particular, we may presume it to have been full and circumstantial through the generation succeeding to his own, not only from the curiosity, and perhaps something of a scandalous interest, which would pursue the motions of one living so large a part of his life at a distance from his wife, but also from the final reverence and honor which would settle upon the memory of a poet so preëminently successful; […]

    1850, Thomas De Quincey, “Shakspeare”, in Biographical Essays, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, page 4

    Synonyms: particularly, distinguishedly

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbIn a preeminent manner.

More synonyms by meaning

adverbto a preeminent degree; with superiority or distinction above others; in a preeminent manner

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Englishpreeminent
  2. Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
  3. Proto-Germanic*līką
  4. Englishpreeminently

From preeminent + -ly.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

preeminently. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preeminently

MLA

“preeminently.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preeminently. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “preeminently,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preeminently.

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