ascendancy
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ascendancy
First recorded in 1705–15; ascend(ant) + -ancy
Explanation
When you assume ascendancy over someone else, you become more powerful than they are. Ascendancy is the state of being in a higher position. If you look at ascendancy, you see the word, ascend, which means to go up. Ascendancy is not so much about going up, but about being up. Another word for it is dominance, especially in the context of foreign or domestic relations. In school, if you question a teacher's ascendancy, you might be told to go to the principal's office. In this case, you're challenging the teacher's authority.
Vocabulary lists containing ascendancy
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Totalitarian abuses of power and the banal ascendancy of evil aren’t stopped with mere pity, she maintained, but with thoughtfulness.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026
Hence the ascendancy of Taylor Frankie Paul, queen of MomTok and “Mormon Wives,” a woman known for her lack of filter and habit of putting it all out there.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 21, 2026
Mikaela Shiffrin continued her ascendancy over the women's slalom in Courchevel on Tuesday night as she swept to a fifth straight victory in the discipline and 105th World Cup win.
From Barron's • Dec. 16, 2025
City, who won the match 3-2, were leading 2-1 at the time but Leeds were in the ascendancy.
From BBC • Nov. 30, 2025
In sharp contrast, take ‘If ye love me’, composed by Thomas Tallis for the Chapel Royal of Edward VI when Protestant reforms were in the ascendancy.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
