prevail
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to be widespread or current; exist everywhere or generally.
Silence prevailed along the funeral route.
-
to appear or occur as the more important or frequent feature or element; predominate.
Green tints prevail in the upholstery.
- Synonyms:
- preponderate
-
to be or prove superior in strength, power, or influence (usually followed byover ).
They prevailed over their enemies in the battle.
- Synonyms:
- overcome
- Antonyms:
- lose
-
to succeed; become dominant; win out.
to wish that the right side might prevail.
-
to use persuasion or inducement successfully.
He prevailed upon us to accompany him.
verb
-
to prove superior; gain mastery
skill will prevail
-
to be or appear as the most important feature; be prevalent
-
to exist widely; be in force
-
to succeed in persuading or inducing
Other Word Forms
- prevailer noun
Etymology
Origin of prevail
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English prevayllen “to grow very strong,” from Latin praevalēre “to be more able,” equivalent to prae- “before, in front” + valēre “to be strong”; pre-, prevalent
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It is the fourth consecutive year that the public have played a part in picking Oxford's word of the year, after an inaugural public vote in 2022 saw "goblin mode" prevail.
From Barron's
Is there a chance that saner heads will prevail?
In this way, Ms Bhatnagar continues, "they claimed freedom from colonial rule but also from prevailing gendered division of spaces, between the domestic and the public".
From BBC
Artificial intelligence may seem like the prevailing force in the market, but some of the tech sector’s biggest losers this month suffered for reasons unrelated to cracks in the AI trade.
From MarketWatch
"Due to the influence of this system, the prevailing heavy showers and strong winds over the island are expected to continue," the DMC said.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
