paramount
paramount Lexical Profile
paramount Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
More important than anything else; supreme or preeminent in rank, priority, or significance.
"Maintaining patient confidentiality is of paramount importance in the medical profession."
Having supreme power, jurisdiction, or authority over others.
"The treaty recognized the monarch as the paramount ruler of the confederation."
• noun
A supreme ruler, overlord, or chief holding the highest authority.
"Local chieftains paid annual tribute to the regional paramount in exchange for protection."
Word Nuance & Usage
In historical and legal contexts, 'paramount' is often used postpositively—placed directly after the noun it modifies—as in 'lord paramount' or 'chief paramount'.
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Anglo-Norman 'paramont' (literally 'up above'), formed from Old French 'par' (by) + 'amont' (upward, from Latin 'ad montem', meaning 'to the mountain'). Originally used as a feudal legal adverb and adjective describing a superior lord who held land from no one else.