preponderant

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

From Latin praeponderāns, present participle of praeponderō (“to outweigh”).

But it is of the greatest service and value when the motive chosen is one, like the search for gain or the desire for personal satisfaction, which exercises a preponderant influence upon economic action. — A history of economic doctrines : $b from the time of the physiocrats to the present day, Charles Gide
Biologically considered, our minds are as ready to grind out falsehood as veracity, and he who says, "Better go without belief forever than believe a lie!" merely shows his own preponderant private horror of becoming a dupe. — The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy, William James
Surely the Directors of a Great Nation may consider the interests of their shareholders—i.e., the people they govern—as sufficiently serious not to be endangered by the deliberate sacrifice of the preponderant position of readiness which generations of self-devotion, patriotism and wise forethought have won for them? — On War, Carl von Clausewitz

overriding, paramount, predominant, predominate, preponderating

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