adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
prē-ĕm′ə-nənt
UK:/pɹiːˈɛmɪnənt/
US:/priˈɛm ə nənt/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:P R IY0 EH1 M AH0 N AH0 N T
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Exceeding others in quality or rank; of outstanding excellence, extremely notable or important.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adjective satellite
Meaning 2
greatest in importance or degree or significance or achievement
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
our greatest statesmen
the country's leading poet
a preeminent archeologist
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: leading(a)
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French preeminent and its source, Latin praeēminēns, present participle of praeēmineō (“to stand out, excel”), from prae- (“pre-”) + ēmineō.
Across languages
Translations
33 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
skitterend
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Bulgarian:
превъзходен
(prevǎzhoden)
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Bulgarian:
отличен
(otličen)
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Catalan:
preeminent
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Danish:
fremtrædende
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Dutch:
uitstekend
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Finnish:
erinomainen
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Finnish:
esimerkillinen
— exceeding others in quality or rank
French:
prééminent
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Galician:
preeminente
— exceeding others in quality or rank
German:
hervorragend
— exceeding others in quality or rank
German:
überragend
— exceeding others in quality or rank
German:
herausragend
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Ancient Greek:
κατ’ ἐξοχήν
(kat’ exokhḗn)
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Hindi:
श्रेष्ठ
(śreṣṭh)
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Hindi:
सर्वश्रेष्ठ
(sarvaśreṣṭh)
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Irish:
aireaghdha
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Irish:
dearscnaitheach
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Irish:
séaghainn
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Old Irish:
prímda
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Italian:
preminente
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Japanese:
擢んでる
(nukinderu)
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Japanese:
卓抜な
(takubatsu na)
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Japanese:
ピカイチ
(pikaichi)
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Japanese:
卓越な
(takuetsu na)
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Korean:
걸출한
(geolchulhan)
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Latin:
praestābilis
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Occitan:
preeminent
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Portuguese:
preeminente
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Russian:
выдаю́щийся
(vydajúščijsja)
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Sanskrit:
प्रधान
(pradhāna)
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Spanish:
preeminente
— exceeding others in quality or rank
Swedish:
framstående
— exceeding others in quality or rank
