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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

above all

And above all, data to find out if City Hall programs are working.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

The pack demands conformity above all other things.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026

But above all, El-Sayed is a bulldog, happy to bite back in a way we rarely see from any candidate, never mind a Muslim one.

From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2026

And, above all, they made sure Antonelli learned proper English, the language in which races are won and lost.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

Then the words of the man who had rented us the room rose above all the voices.

From "Tasting the Sky" by Ibtisam Barakat

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