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.

---

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.

---

Etymology

Origin of above all

First recorded in 1350–1400

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

above all

The results pile pressure on the beleaguered group, which has been suffering from slimmer margins from the sales of electric cars, US tariffs and above all intense Chinese competition.

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

By removing the usual scaffolding that renders human life intelligible, above all custom and language, the books ask what lies beneath.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Muscat now finds itself caught between the wishes of Washington, and Tehran wants to maintain, above all else, its longstanding reputation as the region's discreet diplomatic middleman.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

They were hugs of gratitude, encouragement and, above all, resignation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026

He especially enjoyed catching beetles and water bugs from the streams, but above all else, he was passionate about collecting itself.

From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman