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• supreme
  supreme

  adjective

  highest in rank or authority; paramount; sovereign; chief.
• suprême
  suprême

  noun

  a velouté made with a rich chicken stock.

supreme

¹ American  

[suh-preem, soo-] / səˈprim, sʊ- /

adjective

1. highest in rank or authority; paramount; sovereign; chief.

2. of the highest quality, degree, character, importance, etc..

   supreme courage.

3. greatest, utmost, or extreme.

   supreme disgust.

4. last or final; ultimate.

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suprême ² American  

[suh-preem, -preym, soo-, sy-prem] / səˈprim, -ˈpreɪm, sʊ-, süˈprɛm /

noun

1. Also called sauce suprême.  a velouté made with a rich chicken stock.

2. Also called suprême de volaille.  a dish prepared or served with this sauce, especially boned chicken breast.

3. Also supreme

   1. a bowl or the like designed for the serving of cold foods in an inner container that is nestled in cracked ice.

   2. a dessert or appetizer served in such a container.

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supreme ¹ British  

/ sʊˈpriːm, sjʊ- /

adjective

1. of highest status or power

   a supreme tribunal

2. (usually prenominal) of highest quality, importance, etc

   supreme endeavour

3. greatest in degree; extreme

   supreme folly

4. (prenominal) final or last, esp being last in one's life or progress; ultimate

   the supreme judgment

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suprême ² British  

/ sjʊ-, sʊˈpriːm, -ˈprɛm /

noun

1. Also called: suprême sauce.  a rich velouté sauce made with a base of veal or chicken stock, with cream or egg yolks added

2. the best or most delicate part of meat, esp the breast and wing of chicken, cooked in suprême sauce

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Other Word Forms

• supremeness
  noun
• supremely
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of supreme¹

First recorded in 1510–20; from Latin suprēmus “uppermost,” superlative of superus “upper,” adjective derivative of super ( see super-)

Origin of suprême²

First recorded in 1830–40; from French, from Latin suprēmus supreme

Explanation

If you are the greatest, the most powerful, and the highest, you are supreme. The U.S. Supreme Court is the highest court in the land. A supreme being is a god or other higher power. A supreme leader is an all-powerful ruler. Sometimes, when everyone else is driving you crazy, you might daydream about being the supreme leader of your school, office, or maybe the entire country, so you could tell everyone else what to do. Or you might just order a supreme pizza, which usually has every imaginable topping on it.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

supreme suprême

We ask to meet the Taliban's supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, who is based there.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

But he ultimately answers to the country’s autocratic supreme leader, who can afford to brush off at least some amount of public unhappiness.

From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026

Traders and investment bankers are reigning supreme on Wall Street, at least if you’re judging by their bonuses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

And for years, “Sgt. Pepper” reigned supreme, routinely topping “best of” lists as the finest album ever recorded.

From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026

Men scurried past us without so much as their muskets, leaping into the ditch we had dug across the promontory, and confusion everywhere reigned supreme.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

He began to whisking up a variation on sauce suprême that would incorporate sherry vinegar and mustard made with grape must.

From New York Times ● Jul. 21, 2020

But it is also threadbare elegant with its hint of sherry, and you could call the gravy a French sauce suprême if you liked.

From New York Times ● Nov. 22, 2017

Now add one pint of this velouté to the suprême sauce; reduce the whole on an open fire, while constantly stirring.

From American Cookery November, 1921 by Janet McKenzie Hill

Surprised tomatoes, cocottish eggs, suprême on a sofa, ice Aurora Borealis.

From The Paliser case by Edgar Saltus

We recognize the justice of a description of the Parthenon as ‘le suprême effort du génie à la poursuite du beau’; but the layman must sometimes ask himself what does it mean?

From The Legacy of Greece Essays By: Gilbert Murray, W. R. Inge, J. Burnet, Sir T. L. Heath, D'arcy W. Thompson, Charles Singer, R. W. Livingston, A. Toynbee, A. E. Zimmern, Percy Gardner, Sir Reginald Blomfield by R.W. Livingstone