dominant
/ˈdɑmənənt/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.23 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The fifth major tone of a musical scale (five major steps above the note in question); thus G is the dominant of C, A of D, and so on.
noun
Of an allele, that a heterozygote for the allele has the same phenotype as the homozygote.
noun
adj
adj
Predominant, common, prevalent, of greatest importance.
adj
Of a body part, preferred and used with greater dexterity than the other, as the right hand of a right-handed person or the left hand of a left-handed one.
Example Sentences
- "Finally, if we suppose provisionally that the mutant genes are dominant just as often as they are recessive, selection will be far more severe in eliminating the disadvantageous dominants than in eliminating the disadvantageous recessives."
- "Landowners cannot afford to cut submerchantable trees, yet many hesitate to cut merchantable dominants and codominants at the risk of downgrading the residual stand."
- "This calendar is not for the faint of heart (unless you have some strong butch dominant to hold you while you swoon)"
- "His story was a fable you told dominants in training to stress the importance of comprehending the depths of your submissive's needs."
- "The dominant party controlled the government."
- "The member of a dominant race is, in his dealings with the subject race, seldom indeed fraudulent, […] but imperious, insolent, and cruel."
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French dominant.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈdɑmənənt/
- British English: /ˈdɒmɪnənt/