Ascendant

Quick meaning: Ascendant is an adjective meaning Moving upward; ascending, rising.

Meaning

Moving upward; ascending, rising.

More Meanings

1. (figurative) Controlling, dominant, surpassing.
2. (astrology) In an eastern direction rising just above the horizon.
3. (astronomy) Rising towards the zenith.
4. (botany, physiology) Of a part of an organism: synonym of ascending (“leading or sloping upwards”).
5. (genealogy, archaic or obsolete) Synonym of ascending (“of or pertaining to one's ancestors”).
6. Chiefly in in the ascendant: an act of ascending or rising.
7. (astrology, also figurative) The degree of the zodiac or point of the ecliptic which rises in an eastern direction above the horizon at a particular moment (especially the moment of a person's birth), which is supposed to have a commanding influence on a person's fortune and life; a horoscope.

Example Sentences

At the same time, he [David Gelernter] sees our current society, where computers are ascendant, as lacking authority.

Now, with Syria's Kurds ascendant, hopes that the country as it is now may again be controlled from Damascus are also falling.

The body [of the dragon] mounts ascendant; / The head before, the tail behind, / The wings, like sails that want a wind, / On either side are pendant.

Without some power of persuading or confuting—of defending himself against accusation, or in case of need, accusing others—no man could possibly hold an ascendent position.

Word Forms

• ascendent
• ascendants

Synonyms for ascendant

Depending on context, synonyms include superior, ascending, ascendancy, antecedent, dominant, ascendent.

Antonyms for ascendant

Common opposites include descendant, descendent.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include ascendent, ascensive, ascending, antecedent, ancestor, dominant.

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