paramount

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: par=a=mount

CIDE DICTIONARY

paramount, a. [OF. par amont above; par through, by (L. per) + amont above. See Amount.].

 Having the highest rank or jurisdiction; superior to all others; chief; supreme; preëminent; as, a paramount duty.  Bacon.  [1913 Webster]

Lady paramount (Archery), the lady making the best score. -- Lord paramount, the king.

Syn. Superior; principal; preeminent; chief.

paramount, n. 

 The highest or chief.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

paramount, adj.
1 supreme; requiring first consideration; pre-eminent (of paramount importance).
2 in supreme authority.

Derivative

paramountcy n. paramountly adv.

Etymology

AF paramont f. OF par by + amont above: cf. AMOUNT

THESAURUS

paramount

acmatic, all-absorbing, anointed king, apical, arch, ascendant, at the head, banner, basic, best, boss, bwana, capital, cardinal, central, champion, chef, chief, chieftain, choice, church dignitary, commanding, consummate, controlling, crowned head, crowning, dominant, dynast, ecclesiarch, elder, elect, electronics king, elite, emperor, employer, essential, first, focal, for the best, foremost, general, goodman, governing, grand duke, great, greatest, guru, handpicked, head, headmost, hegemonic, hegemonistic, high chief, highest, honcho, husband, imperator, in ascendancy, in charge, in chief, in the ascendant, king, king-emperor, kinglet, lead, leading, leading light, liege, liege lord, lord, lord paramount, luminary, magisterial, main, majesty, master, master spirit, matchless, maximal, maximum, meridian, meridional, monarch, optimal, optimum, overbearing, overlord, overmost, overriding, overruling, padrone, paterfamilias, patriarch, patron, peerless, petty king, picked, potentate, predominant, predominate, preeminent, premier, prepollent, preponderant, preponderate, prepotent, prevailing, prevalent, prima donna, primal, primary, prime, prince, prince consort, principal, prize, quintessential, rabbi, ranking, regnant, regulating, regulative, regulatory, reigning, requisite, royal, royal personage, royalty, ruler, ruling, sahib, seigneur, seignior, select, sovereign, star, starets, stellar, summital, supereminent, superstar, supreme, surpassing, suzerain, teacher, tetrarch, tip-top, top, top dog, topflight, topmost, ultimate, unmatchable, unmatched, unparalleled, unsurpassed, upmost, uppermost, vertical, very best, vital, zenithal

ROGET THESAURUS

paramount

Importance

N importance, consequence, moment, prominence, consideration, mark, materialness, import, significance, concern, emphasis, interest, greatness, superiority, notability, weight, value, usefulness, gravity, seriousness, solemnity, no joke, no laughing matter, pressure, urgency, stress, matter of life and death, memorabilia, notabilia, great doings, red-letter day, great thing, great point, main chance, the be all and the end all, cardinal point, substance, gist, sum and substance, gravamen, head and front, important part, principal part, prominent part, essential part, half the battle, sine qua non, breath of one's nostrils, cream, salt, core, kernel, heart, nucleus, keynote, keystone, corner stone, trump card, salient points, top sawyer, first fiddle, prima donna, chief, triton among the minnows, 'it', important, of importance, momentous, material, to the point, not to be overlooked, not to be despised, not to be sneezed at, egregious, weighty, of note, notable, prominent, salient, signal, memorable, remarkable, unforgettable, worthy of remark, worthy of notice, never to be forgotten, stirring, eventful, grave, serious, earnest, noble, grand, solemn, impressive, commanding, imposing, urgent, pressing, critical, instant, paramount, essential, vital, all-absorbing, radical, cardinal, chief, main, prime, primary, principal, leading, capital, foremost, overruling, of vital importance in the front rank, first-rate, superior, considerable, marked, rare, significant, telling, trenchant, emphatic, pregnant, tanti, materially, in the main, above all, kat' exochin, par excellence, to crown all, to beat all, expende Hannibalem!.

Superiority

N superiority, majority, greatness, advantage, pull, preponderance, preponderation, vantage ground, prevalence, partiality, personal superiority, nobility, Triton among the minnows, primus inter pares, nulli secundus, captain, crackajack, supremacy, preeminence, lead, maximum, record, trikumia, climax, culmination, transcendence, ne plus ultra, lion's share, Benjamin's mess, excess, surplus, (redundancy), superior, greater, major, higher, exceeding, great, distinguished, ultra, vaulting, more than a match for, supreme, greatest, utmost, paramount, preeminent, foremost, crowning, first-rate, unrivaled peerless, matchless, none such, second to none, sans pareil, unparagoned, unparalleled, unequalled, unapproached, unsurpassed, superlative, inimitable facile princeps, incomparable, sovereign, without parallel, nulli secundus, ne plus ultra, beyond compare, beyond comparison, culminating, transcendent, transcendental, plus royaliste que le Roi, more catholic than the Pope increased, enlarged, beyond, more, over, over the mark, above the mark, above par, upwards of, in advance of, over and above, at the top of the scale, at its height, eminently, egregiously, preeminently, surpassing, prominently, superlatively, supremely, above all, of all things, the most, to crown all, kat exochin, par excellence, principally, especially, particularly, peculiarly, a fortiori, even, yea, still more, I shall not look upon his like again, deos fortioribus addesse.

Authority

N authority, influence, patronage, power, preponderance, credit, prestige, prerogative, jurisdiction, right, direction, government, divine right, dynastic rights, authoritativeness, absoluteness, absolutism, despotism, jus nocendi, jus divinum, mastery, mastership, masterdom, dictation, control, hold, grasp, grip, gripe, reach, iron sway, fangs, clutches, talons, rod of empire, commission, deputy, permission, at the head, dominant, paramount, supreme, predominant, preponderant, in the ascendant, influential, arbitrary, compulsory, stringent, at one's command, in one's power, in one's grasp, under control, in the name of, by the authority of, de par le Roi, in virtue of, under the auspices of, in the hands of, at one's pleasure, by a dash if the pen, by a stroke of the pen, ex mero motu, ex cathedra, from the chair, the gray mare the better horse, every inch a king.