supermajority

[ soo-per-muh-jawr-i-tee, -jor- ]

noun

, plural su·per·ma·jor·i·ties.

1. a majority that must represent some percentage more than a simple majority.
2. a majority greater than a specified number, as 60%, of the total: required to pass certain types of legislation, override vetos, etc.

Word History and Origins

Origin of supermajority¹

super- + majority

Example Sentences

There is an excitement in the air about San Diego having a majority of Democrats on the County Board of Supervisors and a supermajority on the City Council, as well as a Democratic mayor.

From Voice of San Diego

It’s rare to get a supermajority of 60 senators to agree on changes, and much of the Democrats’ ambitions—Medicare for All, police reform, climate change policy—would likely stall in the Senate.

From Fortune

Democrats are trying to break a supermajority there just to have a bit more of a say.

From Washington Post

In other words, the conservative legal movement is poised to remake large swaths of American law — and it’s well-positioned to do so in the years to come so long as Republicans control a supermajority of Supreme Court seats.

From Vox

The filibuster has turned the Senate from an institution in which bills passed when a majority of senators support them to an institution in which bills can only pass, with rare exceptions, with the backing of a 60-vote supermajority.

From Vox

Caution: Wonkjuice is not intended as a substitute for a supermajority.

From The Daily Beast

“Married people had a supermajority of political power at the time the [current tax] rules were enacted,” Kahng notes.

From The Daily Beast

But they fell three votes short of the supermajority required to send the package to Congress.

From The Daily Beast

That vote, however, was insufficient because the bill moved through fast-track procedures that require a two-thirds supermajority.

From The Daily Beast

But if the Republicans succeed in blocking the bill, they may end up electing a supermajority of Democrats in November.

From The Daily Beast