preeminence
preeminences
Preeminence is the quality of being superior. It’s a type of high status or distinction for anything considered to be the best at something, like the preeminence of gold or the preeminence of a famous musician.
Preeminence (or pre-eminence if you love hyphens) comes from the Latin word praeeminere for to “rise above or excel.” People with preeminence include the President, billionaires, and great athletes such as Michael Jordan. By definition, preeiminence suggests superiority, so it can't be a quality lots of people have. A world-famous surgeon is a doctor with preeminence. Anyone considered wealthy, powerful, important, or famous has preeminence.
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high status importance owing to marked superiority
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synonyms:
distinction, eminence, note
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types:
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king
preeminence in a particular category or group or field
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type of:
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high status
a position of superior status
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king
Vocabulary lists containing preeminence
Science journalist Charles Seife discusses the history of the number zero, from its origin as an Eastern philosophical concept to its rise as an important tool in mathematics to its current threat to modern physics.
Eighteen-year-old Ella Minnow Pea fights to save her family, friends, and neighbors after the local government forbids the use certain letters of the alphabet in written and spoken communications.
In this 17th-century treatise, Locke argues that governments are only legitimate when leaders rule with the consent of those who are governed. Read the full text here.
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