Meaning

Superiority in amount or number; the bulk or majority; also, a large amount or number; an abundance, a profusion..

Definitions by Sense

1. Superiority in amount or number; the bulk or majority; also, a large amount or number; an abundance, a profusion.
2. Superiority of influence, power, a quality, etc.; an outweighing, predominance, pre-eminence.
3. (obsolete) Greater physical weight.

Example Sentences

[S]trong proofs are at hand to shew, that in the Irish people there is a large admixture, if not an overwhelming praeponderance, of Iberian elements.

Is there a preponderance of female protagonists in commercial fiction, and if so, what does it mean?

Subtle, institutional discrimination was evident in the preponderance of blacks and underprivileged whites fighting the war.

In a few weeks he [William III of England] had changed the relative position of all the states in Europe, and had restored the equilibrium which the preponderance of one power had destroyed.

But even less disgruntled observers have insisted that pain and unpleasure are more common in dreams than pleasure: for instance, Scholz (1893, 57), Volkelt (1875, 80), and others. Indeed two ladies, Florence Hallam and Sarah Weed (1896, 499), have actually given statistical expression, based on a study of their own dreams, to the preponderance of unpleasure in dreaming.

Word Forms

• preponderances
• praeponderance
• præponderance

Synonyms for preponderance

Related Words

When Should You Use Preponderance?

Use preponderance when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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