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

He became a reader, then a writer, and above all a collector and seller of books.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026

I am still praying for you and your family above all else.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 23, 2026

Richarlison, the pantomime villain, had the last word as he, above all, answered Tudor's call to fight.

From BBC • Mar. 15, 2026

“Campy, openly and equally hateful and opportunistic, and above all, shameless.”

From Slate • Mar. 6, 2026

That was the thought that troubled him above all else, more than his many other cares.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton