dominant applies to something that is uppermost because ruling or controlling.
a dominant social class
predominant applies to something that exerts, often temporarily, the most marked influence.
a predominant emotion
paramount implies supremacy in importance, rank, or jurisdiction.
unemployment was the paramount issue in the campaign
preponderant applies to an element or factor that outweighs all others in influence or effect.
preponderant evidence in her favor
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebUnder federal law, race cannot be a preponderant motive in drawing a district, wrote Dr. Cervas, a fellow at Carnegie Mellon University. Jimmy Vielkind And Eliza Collins, WSJ, 21 May 2022 In theory the Russian and Indian constitutions are religiously neutral, but in practice each has a preponderant faith (respectively Orthodox Christianity and Hinduism), and both religious minorities and secularists complain of discrimination.The Economist, 14 Dec. 2020 What remains a preponderant complexity is just when optimal dirt shoveling occurs. Ian Allen, The New Republic, 12 Aug. 2020 Indeed, by election eve, Democrats, in the preponderant manner of the 2016 campaign, had raised a record $1 billion for state, House, and Senate midterm races, with hundreds of millions more garnered by the progressive political-action committees. Victor Davis Hanson, National Review, 17 Mar. 2020 In Britain, England was always the preponderant partner.The Economist, 12 July 2018 Trump's defenders correctly note that polls show a preponderant majority of Republicans approve of his job performance. Ronald Brownstein, CNN, 1 Nov. 2017 Polls found the initial Republican legislation faced preponderant public opposition: A late March Quinnipiac University survey found that fewer than one in five adults supported it, while 56 percent opposed it. Ronald Brownstein, The Atlantic, 4 May 2017 See More