preponderate
Americanverb (used without object)
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to exceed something else in weight; be the heavier.
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to incline downward or descend, as one scale or end of a balance, because of greater weight; be weighed down.
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to be superior in power, force, influence, number, amount, etc.; predominate.
Evidence for the accused preponderated at the trial.
verb
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(often foll by over) to be more powerful, important, numerous, etc (than)
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to be of greater weight than something else
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of preponderate
1615–25; < Latin praeponderātus, past participle of praeponderāre to outweigh. See pre-, ponder, -ate 1
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.
See Examples For:
“If his own opinion prevails at some times, he should acquiesce on seeing that of others preponderate at others. Without this mutual disposition we are disjointed individuals, but not a society.”
From Washington Post ● Jan. 10, 2019
While it is true that some Reformed Congregations hold their services on Sunday, the preponderate number of them still cling to the traditional sabbath.
From Time Magazine Archive
He specifically stated that "management of the institution must be genuinely international, without preponderate power of veto."
From Time Magazine Archive
These seek their complement in the other sex cell, but if the male micro-cellules preponderate in number over the female the result will be a male embryo, and vice versa.
From Time Magazine Archive
The conditions of population among mature and flourishing nations is characterized by this, that the moral and rational preventive tendencies counter to over-population decidedly preponderate.
From Principles of Political Economy, Vol. II by Roscher, Wilhelm
They came from Tonga in 1835 and naturally settled first in the eastern islands, where the Tongan element, already familiar to them, preponderated.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 3 "Fenton, Edward" to "Finistere" by Various
We found that although the older houses preponderated, there were several streets of handsome residences.
From Yankee Girls in Zulu Land by Vescelius-Sheldon, Louise
Of course this new tongue modified itself with the exigencies of those who spoke it; and as the French ingredient declined, the Milesian preponderated, till at length it became far more Irish than French.
From Confessions Of Con Cregan An Irish Gil Blas by Lever, Charles James
One or the other has preponderated, and thus given distinct characteristics to its age.
From The Continental Monthly, Vol. 4, No. 5, November, 1863 by Various
If his good works preponderated, he was dismissed to the fields of Aahlu—the Elysian Fields; if his evil, he was condemned to transmigration.
From History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume I (of 2) Revised Edition by Draper, John William
"The League cannot ignore the existence of Japan as a world power, and especially as a power with the preponderating position in Eastern Asia."
From Time Magazine Archive
Moreover, even those who attribute to the "syndicate" of factors a preponderating power over historical progress do not attribute to intelligence a greater influence than we recognize as belonging to it.
From Socialism, Revolution and Internationalism by Deville, Gabriel
To produce an act of choice, therefore, we have only to awaken a preponderating desire.
From A Review of Edwards's by Tappan, Henry Philip
"Certainly," he says, "the part taken by the missionaries in expeditions of this character, was a preponderating one."
From Count Frontenac Makers of Canada, Volume 3 by LeSueur, William Dawson
If Condorcet wrote just before his death his immortal Sketch, Voltaire took a preponderating part in the creation of the intellectual atmosphere in which Condorcet lived and could develop his genius.
From Voltaire: A Sketch of his Life and Works by Foote, G. W. (George William)
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.
