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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  

/ sʊˈpriːm, sjʊ-, -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

There’s no more fitting description of a documentary that’s cobbled together from the dying gasps of ’90s fashion culture, when glamor and mischief reigned supreme.

From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026

Sullivan obliged, allowing Reddington one hour to file his appeal, but it ultimately failed with the state supreme court quickly holding a hearing and denying the application for an emergency stay.

From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2026

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

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has overhauled the country’s top security chiefs following the deaths of the previous leadership team.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

All we need to know is that, in Shakespeare’s time, an apostrophe indicated omitted letters, which meant Hamlet could say with supreme apostrophic confidence: “Fie on’t! O fie!”

From "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Author

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

Take them up, drain well, and stew them in half a pint of sauce suprême, with a dozen small mushrooms, for ten minutes.

From Choice Cookery by Catherine Owen

The suprême is thus served incrusted in a square block of thick jelly; the dish is decorated with greens.

From American Cookery November, 1921 by Janet McKenzie Hill

Robespierre, a few days before his fall, declared atheism to be aristocratic, reinstated l'Être suprême, and gave a festival in his honor.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 04, No. 26, December, 1859 by Various