preeminent Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite greatest in importance or degree or significance or achievement
    leading.
    • our greatest statesmen
    • the country's leading poet
    • a preeminent archeologist

WordNet

Pre*ëm"i*nent adjective (Also<
  • Preeminent
  • Preëminent
)
Etymology
L. praeminens, -entis, p. pr. praeminere to be prominent, to surpass: cf. F. prééminent. See Pre-, and Eminent.
Definitions
  1. Eminent above others; prominent among those who are eminent; superior in excellence; surpassing, or taking precedence of, others; rarely, surpassing others in evil, or in bad qualities; as, preëminent in guilt.
    In goodness and in power preëminent. Milton.

Webster 1913