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

His archive now stands as a sustained act of witnessing - a country, its people, and its contradictions - through a lens that remained, above all, deeply human.

From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026

The president sees himself as a deal maker above all else.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s first-quarter results were announced Thursday, its beat and raise surpassing already elevated expectations, and confirming, above all else, that momentum in the chip spending cycle is very much intact.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026

"Let's join forces for a strong, secure and, above all, united Europe," he added.

From Barron's • Apr. 12, 2026

Besides, the black elite had always wrung concessions from the white power structure—slowly but surely—through back-channel meetings, arguing their case in a dignified, rational, and, above all, civil manner.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson