supreme

¹

[ suh-preem, soo- ]

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.

suprême

²

[ suh-preem, -preym, soo-; French sy-prem ]

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 su·preme [].
   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.

supreme

¹

/ 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

suprême

²

/ sjʊ-; sʊˈpriːm; -ˈprɛm /

noun

1. Also calledsuprême 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

Derived Forms

• suˈpremely, adverb
• suˈpremeness, noun

Other Words From

• su·premely adverb
• su·premeness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of supreme¹

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

Origin of supreme²

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of supreme¹

C16: from Latin suprēmus highest, from superus that is above, from super above

Origin of supreme²

French: supreme

Example Sentences

Putin presides over their situation as a supreme arbiter, to whom they can appeal.

From Time

IRGC-affiliated candidates are well placed to take the presidency in June and whoever succeeds ageing Ayatollah Khamenei as supreme leader will need the IRGC more than ever to maintain power.

From Time

However, that group of players contains supreme defenders and fast runners.

From FiveThirtyEight

Maximize shareholders wealth’ is a simple theoretical way of looking at a business, but it’s not supported by the reality of many great companies…For them, profit is simply a strategic necessity rather than the supreme end point.

From Fortune

A new type of quantum computer has proven that it can reign supreme, too.

From Science News

Higher courts, including the Supreme Court had refused to intercede, and the stay was to expire tonight.

From The Daily Beast

The Supreme Court eventually stepped in and ended legal segregation in the landmark 1954 decision, Brown v. Board of Education.

From The Daily Beast

I was convicted a year later and sentenced to death—a charge later overturned by the Supreme Court when it called for a retrial.

From The Daily Beast

Logistics wins the day, and the Supreme Deity is, at this juncture, nowhere to be seen.

From The Daily Beast

The Supreme Court justices who decided the Integrity case make $244,440 a year (Chief Justice Roberts makes $255,500).

From The Daily Beast

Like every other Spanish general in supreme command abroad, Polavieja had his enemies in Spain.

From Project Gutenberg

To know, to love, and to be loved by such a man as Burne-Jones was a supreme blessing in his life.

From Project Gutenberg

Make a personal appeal to your men and Godley's to make a supreme effort to hold their ground.

From Project Gutenberg

Alone the supreme Self in him looked calmly on, seeming to lessen the part that trembled and knew fear.

From Project Gutenberg

He loses sight of the supreme fact that after all, in its own poor, clumsy fashion, the machine does work.

From Project Gutenberg