above all

American  

[uh-buhv awl] / əˈbʌv ˈɔl /

idiom

1. most important of all; before everything else; chiefly.

   Above all, the little girl wanted a piano.

   He said that, above all else, he was a dad of two young children.

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above all More Idioms  

1. More than anything else, as in A winter hike calls for good equipment, but above all it requires careful planning. This phrase first appears in William Langland's Piers Ploughman (1377), in which the narrator exhorts readers to love the Lord God above all. Also see first and last.

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Etymology

Origin of above all

First recorded in 1350–1400

Example Sentences

Maybe the key is to hold steady, stay focused and deliver clothes that are, above all, wearable.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026

Locals' grievances include the congestion caused by visitors in city centres, their environmental impact and, above all, the idea that they are exacerbating Spain's housing crisis.

From BBC • Jun. 7, 2026

But above all, he told his students, train yourselves “never to mistake mediocrity, however brilliant, for true greatness.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

Instead of blanket-dismissing tech entrepreneurs or wholesale manifesting a god in the machine, Pope Leo has sought a careful, studied, moral middle ground: one that encourages technological progress but upholds human dignity above all.

From Slate • May 28, 2026

And above all, a prince should strive in all of his actions to achieve the reputation of a great man of outstanding intelligence.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli