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• supreme
  supreme

  adjective

  highest in rank or authority; paramount; sovereign; chief.
• suprême
  suprême

  noun

  a velouté made with a rich chicken stock.

supreme

¹ American  

[suh-preem, soo-] / səˈprim, sʊ- /

adjective

1. highest in rank or authority; paramount; sovereign; chief.

2. of the highest quality, degree, character, importance, etc..

   supreme courage.

3. greatest, utmost, or extreme.

   supreme disgust.

4. last or final; ultimate.

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suprême ² American  

[suh-preem, -preym, soo-, sy-prem] / səˈprim, -ˈpreɪm, sʊ-, süˈprɛm /

noun

1. Also called sauce suprême. a velouté made with a rich chicken stock.

2. Also called suprême de volaille. a dish prepared or served with this sauce, especially boned chicken breast.

3. Also supreme

   1. a bowl or the like designed for the serving of cold foods in an inner container that is nestled in cracked ice.

   2. a dessert or appetizer served in such a container.

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supreme ¹ British  

/ sʊˈpriːm, sjʊ- /

adjective

1. of highest status or power

   a supreme tribunal

2. (usually prenominal) of highest quality, importance, etc

   supreme endeavour

3. greatest in degree; extreme

   supreme folly

4. (prenominal) final or last, esp being last in one's life or progress; ultimate

   the supreme judgment

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suprême ² British  

/ sʊˈpriːm, sjʊ-, -ˈprɛm /

noun

1. Also called: suprême sauce. a rich velouté sauce made with a base of veal or chicken stock, with cream or egg yolks added

2. the best or most delicate part of meat, esp the breast and wing of chicken, cooked in suprême sauce

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Other Word Forms

• supremeness
  noun
• supremely
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of supreme¹

First recorded in 1510–20; from Latin suprēmus “uppermost,” superlative of superus “upper,” adjective derivative of super ( see super-)

Origin of suprême²

First recorded in 1830–40; from French, from Latin suprēmus supreme

Explanation

If you are the greatest, the most powerful, and the highest, you are supreme. The U.S. Supreme Court is the highest court in the land. A supreme being is a god or other higher power. A supreme leader is an all-powerful ruler. Sometimes, when everyone else is driving you crazy, you might daydream about being the supreme leader of your school, office, or maybe the entire country, so you could tell everyone else what to do. Or you might just order a supreme pizza, which usually has every imaginable topping on it.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

supreme suprême

One past speaker was Ali Khamenei, who addressed the General Assembly in 1987—when he was Iran’s president, before becoming supreme leader.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

There’s no more fitting description of a documentary that’s cobbled together from the dying gasps of ’90s fashion culture, when glamor and mischief reigned supreme.

From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026

Their predecessors as rugby union's supreme team were the All Blacks, who won their own back-to-back World Cups, in 2011 and 2015.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

But he ultimately answers to the country’s autocratic supreme leader, who can afford to brush off at least some amount of public unhappiness.

From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026

It annoys a certain lady that her spouse has such supreme faith in the British, and a certain husband attacks his wife because of her teasing and disparaging remarks about his beloved nation!

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank

He began to whisking up a variation on sauce suprême that would incorporate sherry vinegar and mustard made with grape must.

From New York Times ● Jul. 21, 2020

But it is also threadbare elegant with its hint of sherry, and you could call the gravy a French sauce suprême if you liked.

From New York Times ● Nov. 22, 2017

The suprême sauce used in that case is generally made with very rich chicken gravy.

From Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks by Pierre Blot

There may be less comfort here; but nobody feels the want of it; and there is certainly more amusement—and amusement is here truly "le suprême bonheur."

From The Diary of an Ennuyée by Mrs. (Anna) Jameson

This amounted to a bouleversement suprême of the usual order of things, and it was no wonder that there was disquietude among his hearers.

From White Ashes by Sidney R. (Sidney Robinson) Kennedy