Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of chief concern or importance.
- adjective Highest in rank, power, or authority.
- noun One that has the highest rank, power, or authority.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Supreme; superior in power or jurisdiction; chief: as, lord paramount, the supreme lord of a fee, or of lands, tenements, and hereditaments.
- Above; superior to: with a prepositional force.
- Eminent; of the highest order; especially, of chief or superior importance; above all others as regards importance; superior: as, the paramount duty of a citizen.
- noun The chief; the highest in rank or importance; a superior.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Having the highest rank or jurisdiction; superior to all others; chief; supreme; preëminent.
- adjective (Archery) the lady making the best score.
- adjective the king.
- noun The highest or chief.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Supreme ;highest .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective having superior power and influence
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word paramount.
Examples
-
At one extreme of these is the proceeding in rem of the admiralty, which conclusively disposes of the property in its power, and, when it sells or condemns it, does not deal with this or that man's title, but gives a new title paramount to all previous interests, whatsoever they may be.
The Common Law Oliver Wendell Holmes 1888
-
What's harder to accept, from an author for whom character has always been paramount, is the lack of dimensionality in both Hector and Sylvie, who manage to seem vaporous and wooden at the same time ...
The Surrendered: Summary and book reviews of The Surrendered by Chang-rae Lee. 2010
-
This line about happiness being paramount is particularly irritating from supposedly religious people.
The Social Science of Raising Happy Kids - Freakonomics Blog - NYTimes.com 2007
-
He mentioned the word paramount, that the will of the people has to be considered here.
-
In this case also the consideration which becomes paramount is the possibility of pre - serving the unity of the two great races that are joint partners in Confederation.
-
As long as he did not possess her she knew that emotion would remain paramount over judgment – that the longing to win her would triumph over the desire to improve what he had won.
-
Shakspere's influence it might be expected that his would have been the name paramount among the pioneers of English romanticism.
A History of English Romanticism in the Eighteenth Century 1886
-
So if the lessor be evicted [foreclosed??] of a part of the land demised, by a stranger on title paramount, it operates as a suspension of the rent pro Canto, and the rent is apportioned and payable only in respect of the residue. lb.
WordPress.com News adask 2009
-
“What’s paramount is getting the toys right,” Ted Koplar, president of St. Louis-based WEP told Daily Variety.
Pink is the New Blog | Everybody's Business Is My Business » 2010 » June » 07 2010
-
“What’s paramount is getting the toys right,” Ted Koplar, president of St. Louis-based WEP told Daily Variety.
houdini commented on the word paramount
CDO: more important than anything else:
There are many priorities, but reducing the budget deficit is paramount/is of paramount importance.
August 23, 2008
mattaustin commented on the word paramount
hello agian i found this word in my old ceramics book by Glen Nelsen.The final potted form is the paramount concern to most artist.
September 30, 2010