ascendancy
/əˈsɛndənsi/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.88 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Ellipsis of Protestant Ascendancy, a class of Protestant landowners and professionals that dominated political and social life in Ireland up to the early 20th century.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A quantitative attribute of an ecosystem, defined as a function of the ecosystem's trophic network, and intended to indicate its ability to prevail against disturbance by virtue of its combined organization and size.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Spurs ended the half in the ascendancy and Van der Vaart was again inches away from giving them the lead when he met Bale's cross but his header flew wide."
- "The Tory hard right is in the ascendancy, and a fascist street movement – led by convicted fraudster Tommy Robinson – represents a growing threat."
- "[W. B. Yeats] belonged not to the ascendancy class but to the protestant bourgeoisie."
- "True, the “ascendancy” remained a crucial and significant governing class in Irish life, and would remain so for generations."
- "Ascendency was found to be a useful indicator for the health assessment of marine benthic ecosystems over space and time."