ascendant
Americannoun
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a position of dominance or controlling influence: possession of power, superiority, or preeminence.
With his rivals in the ascendant, he soon lost his position.
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an ancestor; forebear.
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Astrology. the point of the ecliptic or the sign and degree of the zodiac rising above the eastern horizon at the time of a birth or event: the cusp of the first house.
adjective
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proceeding upwards; rising
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dominant, superior, or influential
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botany another term for ascending
noun
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rare an ancestor
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a position or condition of dominance, superiority or control
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astrology (sometimes capital)
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a point on the ecliptic that rises on the eastern horizon at a particular moment and changes as the earth rotates on its axis
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the sign of the zodiac containing this point
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increasing in influence, prosperity, etc
Other Word Forms
- nonascendant adjective
- nonascendantly adverb
- nonascendent adjective
- nonascendently adverb
- unascendant adjective
- unascendent adjective
Etymology
Origin of ascendant
1350–1400; Middle English ascendent < Latin ascendent- (stem of ascendēns ) climbing up. See ascend, -ent, -ant
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.
Two years later One Nation appeared ascendant, picking up 11 seats in Queensland's state election and winning 8.4% of primary votes in the federal election.
From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026
Julian Alvarez headed wide as Atletico, ascendant, looked for a second.
From Barron's • Feb. 24, 2026
The Dodgers have plenty of young pitchers who could step in, from ascendant minor-league prospect Jackson Ferris, to returning 2024 breakout rookies River Ryan and Gavin Stone, to the more-established Justin Wrobleski and Emmet Sheehan.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 2026
Dr. Carly Fox, a senior veterinarian at New York’s Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, said that flat-faced dogs—they’re “brachycephalic” for people in the know—have been ascendant in the past decade.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025
And if I told her something funny, then her tongue dropped away, her head fell back, her mouth opened wide, and there were her front teeth, riven and ascendant.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
