Dic: dominant and its synonyms

Synonyms: dominant, predominant, preponderant, paramount, preeminent

These adjectives mean surpassing all others in power, influence, or position.

• Dominant applies to what exercises principal control or authority or is unmistakably ascendant:
  ... For decades, the Soviet Union was the dominant nation of eastern Europe.
  
  
• Predominant often implies being uppermost at a particular time or for the time being:
  ... "Egrets, gulls and small mammals are the predominant wildlife on the island these days" (Dan McCoubrey).
  
  
• Preponderant implies superiority as the result of outweighing or outnumbering all others:
  ... "No big modern war has been won without preponderant sea power" (Samuel Eliot Morison).
  
  
• Paramount means first in importance, rank, or regard:
  ... "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union" (Abraham Lincoln).
  
  
• Preeminent suggests generally recognized supremacy:
  ... He is the preeminent tenor of the modern era.

.... The American Heritage