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
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
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
Do the elements of truth preponderate over those of error?
From Ti-Ping Tien-Kwoh The History of the Ti-Ping Revolution (Volume I) by Lindley, Augustus F.
The number, on the whole, preponderated in favour of Francisco; but on the captain's side were the older and more athletic of the crew, and, we may add, the more determined.
From The Pirate, and The Three Cutters by Sullivan, Edmund J. (Edmund Joseph)
Among the commodities for sale jack-fruits preponderated, it being the month of Asadh.
From Mashi and Other Stories by Tagore, Rabindranath
With the exception of boys—who certainly preponderated in Rutherford—there were far too few human beings to satisfy Audrey.
From Lover or Friend by Carey, Rosa Nouchette
The occipital and parietal lobes preponderated in mass as compared with the temporal and frontal.
From Degeneracy Its Causes, Signs and Results by Talbot, Eugene S.
So long as the north of France, where the Germanic element prevailed, preponderated in the policy of the country, the fabric of feudalism, or rather its inform remains, maintained their ground.
From The Moral and Intellectual Diversity of Races With Particular Reference to Their Respective Influence in the Civil and Political History of Mankind by Arthur, T. S. (Timothy Shay)
"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
The principle involved in this preponderating e. m. f. he explains in this way: Suppose a conductor is moved into the magnetic field and then suddenly withdrawn.
From The inventions, researches and writings of Nikola Tesla With special reference to his work in polyphase currents and high potential lighting by Martin, Thomas Commerford
I think it must necessarily be so in all countries which are most rapidly increasing in riches, for from whence do riches come but from production preponderating over consumption?
From Letters of David Ricardo to Thomas Robert Malthus, 1810-1823 by Ricardo, David
In sum, while most of the evidence points to a preponderating importance of the nuclear matter, it cannot be said to be an established proposition that the nuclear matter is the germ-plasm.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various
It has, however, on the highest authority since transpired that when in 1874 Mr Disraeli took office, he had already decided upon acquiring for England a preponderating interest in the international waterway.
From Social Transformations of the Victorian Age A Survey of Court and Country by Escott, T. H. S. (Thomas Hay Sweet)
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.
