dominant

/ˈdä-mə-nənt/

Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin dominant-, dominans, present participle of dominari seedominate

adjective

  1. commanding, controlling, or prevailing over all others

  2. very important, powerful, or successful

  3. overlooking and commanding from a superior position

the dominant culture

a dominant theme

dominant predominant paramount preponderant mean superior to all others in influence or importance. dominant applies to something that is uppermost because ruling or controlling. predominant applies to something that exerts, often temporarily, the most marked influence.

noun

  1. the fifth tone of a major or minor scale

  2. a character or factor that exerts genetic dominance

  3. any of one or more kinds of organism (such as a species) in an ecological community that exerts a controlling influence on the environment and thereby largely determines what other kinds of organisms are present