dominant

dominant — adjective

1. stronger, more important, or more noticeable than any comparable person or thing

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

stronger, more important, or more noticeable than any comparable person or thing — for example, a company that controls the largest share of a market, or a language used most widely in a region.

Example

Cyrus's company holds a dominant position in the Asian electronics market.

collocation: dominant position in [sector]

English became the dominant language for international business during the twentieth century.

Common collocations
  • dominant position
  • dominant role
  • dominant force
  • dominant culture
  • dominant species
  • dominant theme
Synonyms
  • predominant

    emphasises being the most common or widespread; slightly more formal than dominant

  • prevailing

    focuses on being the most widely accepted or current at a given time

  • leading

    stresses being ahead of others, often in a competition or ranking

Antonyms
  • subordinate

    lower in rank or position; opposite of holding power

  • minor

    smaller in importance or size

Grammar Patterns

dominant + noun

be dominant

dominant in/over + noun

Usage Note

Often used in business, ecology, and social contexts to describe the most powerful or widespread element in a group. Common in both attributive (a dominant force) and predicative (the force is dominant) positions.

Common Mistakes

The company is dominant than its rivals.
The company is dominant over its rivals.
'dominant' uses 'over' or 'in', not 'than'.
This is the most dominant market share.
This is the dominant market share.
'dominant' already implies 'most', so 'most dominant' is redundant in formal writing.

2. describes a gene that causes a physical characteristic to appear in a living thi

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

describes a gene that causes a physical characteristic to appear in a living thing even when inherited from only one parent — for example, the gene for brown eyes can show up in a child who has only one parent with brown eyes.

Example

Lakshmi learned that brown eyes are a dominant trait that can appear even if only one parent has them.

collocation: dominant trait

In Mendel's pea plants, the dominant gene for tall stems always won over the recessive short-stem gene.

structure: dominant gene for [trait]

Common collocations
  • dominant gene
  • dominant allele
  • dominant trait
  • dominant characteristic
Synonyms
  • expressive

    used in genetics to describe a gene that is expressed in the phenotype

  • inherited

    broader term — applies to any characteristic passed through genes, not only dominant ones

Antonyms
  • recessive

    needs two copies (one from each parent) to produce the characteristic

Grammar Patterns

dominant gene

dominant trait

Usage Note

Nearly always used attributively before a noun (dominant gene, dominant allele, dominant trait). The opposite is recessive. Distinguished from the general sense by a focus on heredity — do not use this sense for social or competitive dominance.

Common Mistakes

The dominant gene was passed down by both parents.
The dominant gene was passed down by one parent.
a dominant gene needs only one copy from one parent to produce the trait.

3. describes a limb or organ on one side that a person uses more often than the mat

3.adjectiveB2
Definition

describes a limb or organ on one side that a person uses more often than the matching body part opposite to it — for example, the hand you write with or the eye you naturally look through first.

Example

Mayumi is left-handed, so her left hand is her dominant hand for writing and drawing.

collocation: dominant hand

Rachid's dominant eye is his left eye, which he closes first when he aims a camera.

collocation: dominant eye

Common collocations
  • dominant hand
  • dominant eye
  • dominant arm
  • dominant foot
  • dominant leg
Synonyms
  • preferred

    softer in tone — suggests choice rather than natural physical advantage

  • stronger

    simpler, everyday word but less precise in medical or sports contexts

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

dominant + body part

dominant hand/eye/foot

Usage Note

Used with body parts that come in pairs (hand, eye, arm, foot, leg). The dominant limb is typically the more coordinated one. Left-handed people have a left dominant hand; right-handed people have a right dominant hand.

4. describes a person who likes to take control of a group and expects others to fo

4.adjectiveB2
Definition

describes a person who likes to take control of a group and expects others to follow their decisions — for example, a manager who makes all the choices without asking team members for their opinions.

Example

Roya found her new manager too dominant — he made every decision without asking the team.

predicative: be + too dominant

In the group project, Dylan was so dominant that quieter members rarely got to speak.

Common collocations
  • dominant personality
  • dominant leader
  • dominant character
  • dominant figure
  • too dominant
Synonyms
  • assertive

    more positive — confident without being aggressive

  • domineering

    strongly negative — suggests bullying or excessive control

  • authoritative

    neutral — describes someone whose power comes from knowledge or position

Antonyms
  • submissive

    ready to accept others' control; opposite of wanting to lead

  • passive

    does not take action or try to influence others

Grammar Patterns

dominant + noun (person)

be dominant in a group

Usage Note

Can be neutral or negative depending on context. In a sports or crisis context, being dominant may be praised; in a collaborative setting, it may suggest the person does not listen well. Overlaps partly with sense 1 when applied to people, but sense 4 specifically describes a personality trait, not external influence.

Common Mistakes

She is a dominant in the group.
She is dominant in the group.
'dominant' is an adjective, not a noun, when describing a person's style.

5. relating to the fifth note of a major or minor musical scale, which creates tens

5.adjectiveC1
Definition

relating to the fifth note of a major or minor musical scale, which creates tension and often leads back to the first note (the tonic) — for example, in the key of C major, the dominant chord is built on the note G.

Example

Eri practiced moving from the dominant chord to the tonic chord until it sounded smooth.

collocation: dominant chord → tonic chord

The piece builds tension with a long dominant seventh before resolving to a calm ending.

collocation: dominant seventh

Common collocations
  • dominant chord
  • dominant note
  • dominant seventh
  • dominant key

Grammar Patterns

dominant chord

dominant note

dominant seventh

Usage Note

Technical music-theory sense used mostly in formal instruction. Nearly always appears alongside the musical terms tonic, subdominant, and resolution. If the learner does not study music theory, this sense can be safely ignored.

dominant — noun

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe something that ranks first in importance, influence, or visibility, but they differ in focus. Dominant suggests active control or clear superiority over others — a dominant species shapes an ecosystem. Predominant emphasises being the most common or widespread rather than actively controlling — the predominant religion in a region is simply the one most people follow. Prevailing points to what is currently most accepted or in fashion — the prevailing attitude at the time was optimistic. Leading suggests being ahead in a competition or a measurable ranking — a leading brand sells more than its rivals. In a business context, 'Our company is the dominant player in the market' implies power; 'We are the leading manufacturer' implies market share; 'This is the prevailing business model' implies common practice; 'Our predominant revenue source is software' implies the largest portion.

dominant ↗predominantprevailingleading ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • dominant position
  • dominant role
  • dominant force
  • dominant culture
  • dominant species
  • dominant power
  • dominant figure
  • dominant hand
  • dominant theme

Adverbs

  • highly dominant
  • increasingly dominant
  • clearly dominant
  • overwhelmingly dominant
  • socially dominant

Phrases

  • become dominant
  • remain dominant
  • be dominant over

Prepositions

  • dominant in
  • dominant over
  • dominant among

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Dominant entered English in the 15th century from Middle French 'dominant', which came from Latin 'dominari' meaning 'to rule, to have dominion'. The Latin root 'dominus' meant 'lord' or 'master', which itself came from 'domus' (house) — originally the head of a household. The genetics meaning appeared in the early 20th century as scientists like Gregor Mendel began categorising how traits are inherited. The music-theory sense dates to the late 17th and early 18th centuries, when European music theorists described the fifth degree of the scale as the 'dominant' because of its strong pull toward the tonic.