prevail
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to be widespread or current; exist everywhere or generally.
Silence prevailed along the funeral route.
-
to appear or occur as the more important or frequent feature or element; predominate.
Green tints prevail in the upholstery.
- Synonyms:
- preponderate
-
to be or prove superior in strength, power, or influence (usually followed byover ).
They prevailed over their enemies in the battle.
- Synonyms:
- overcome
- Antonyms:
- lose
-
to succeed; become dominant; win out.
to wish that the right side might prevail.
-
to use persuasion or inducement successfully.
He prevailed upon us to accompany him.
verb
-
to prove superior; gain mastery
skill will prevail
-
to be or appear as the most important feature; be prevalent
-
to exist widely; be in force
-
to succeed in persuading or inducing
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
prevailsimple
-
prevailssimple
-
have prevailedperfect
-
has prevailedperfect
-
am prevailingprogressive
-
are prevailingprogressive
-
is prevailingprogressive
-
have been prevailingperfect progressive
-
has been prevailingperfect progressive
Past
-
prevailedsimple
-
had prevailedperfect
-
was prevailingprogressive
-
were prevailingprogressive
-
had been prevailingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of prevail
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English prevayllen “to grow very strong,” from Latin praevalēre “to be more able,” equivalent to prae- “before, in front” + valēre “to be strong”; see pre-, prevalent
Explanation
Prevail means to successfully persuade someone of something. If you were a Presidential advisor and you convinced him to make a National Day of Pet Appreciation, then you prevailed upon him to recognize pets. Prevail can be used for different kinds of success. If you prevail upon someone, you have influence on them. If you prevail over someone, you win. Say you’re a big fan of a losing team. You might cheer, “Despite all odds, we will prevail!” To use prevail, there has to be some kind of contest or conflict. That could be internal, like when you have a pile of homework to do, but your desire to play video games prevails over your discipline.
Vocabulary lists containing prevail
List 1
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 12–15
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"The Hill We Climb," by Amanda Gorman
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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.
See Examples For:
As a teenager I started to sing on street corners and I noticed that my voice was naturally potent — it could prevail over the traffic and the street noises.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Both players' straightforward progress through recent rounds has been founded on immense serving - and they will need to maintain those levels if they are to prevail.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
Cook has denied the mortgage fraud allegations and in its Monday verdict the Supreme Court said the government was "unlikely" to prevail on appeal in its attempts to remove the Fed governor.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
While Congress did not guarantee that every one of those claims would prevail, it guaranteed a legal process for deciding them.
From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2026
He stayed hopeful, insistently so, convinced that some part of his vision would someday, somehow, manage to prevail.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
But after late substitutions, the men are able to return to the fray just in time, and Odysseus prevails.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
The genre is varied, the casts inevitably fine and justice almost always prevails.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
It has all been presided over by a no-nonsense judge who will take the jury's decision under advisement, but ultimately decides which side prevails.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
And if Uthmeier prevails, adoptive parents across Florida could find their legal claim to their children suddenly open to challenge, potentially by the very birth parents who relinquished them, or by the state.
From Slate ● May 13, 2026
In public health projects in difficult locales, theory often prevails over practice.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
But the lower house's broader approach demanding social media platforms refuse new users under 15 and suspend accounts belonging to children under that age prevailed.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
In 2008, at the end of a week largely dominated by horrendous weather, Padraig Harrington prevailed with a winning score of three over par, four shots clear of Ian Poulter.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
This year the chief justice prevailed with different coalitions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
The machine may not have prevailed today, but it could next time.
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2026
Well, Mrs. Weston, you have prevailed, I hope, and these ladies will oblige us.”
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
The prevailing aural color works best in the gentler sections, such as Niamara’s appealing aria, “Love, love, come to me.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
But the 29-year-old ensured he will avoid that tag by prevailing against Italy's Flavio Cobolli in the Roland Garros final - his 41st appearance at a major.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
The prevailing theory suggested that blue cones formed in the center of the retina and later migrated outward.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
What investors should want from Warsh is the predictability that made Greenspan’s tenure a success — a Fed that responds to prevailing economic conditions as they show up in the data.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
He cared little for material things but he hungered for respect and he was acutely aware that in the culture in which he lived, money was the prevailing gauge of success.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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.
