Adjacent Words

Supreme definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SUPRE'ME, a. [L. supremus, from supra.]
1. Highest in authority; holding the highest place in government or power. In the United States, the congress is supreme in regulating commerce and in making war and peace. The parliament of Great Britain is supreme in legislation; but the king is supreme in the administration of the government. In the universe, God only is the supreme ruler and judge. His commands are supreme, and binding on all his creatures.
2. Highest, greatest or most excellent; as supreme love; supreme glory; supreme degree.
3. It is sometimes used in a bad sense; as supreme folly or baseness, folly or baseness carried to the utmost extent. [A bad use of the word.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: final or last in your life or progress; "the supreme sacrifice"; "the supreme judgment"
2: greatest in status or authority or power; "a supreme tribunal" [syn: sovereign, supreme]
3: highest in excellence or achievement; "supreme among musicians"; "a supreme endxxeavor"; "supreme courage"
4: greatest or maximal in degree; extreme; "supreme folly"

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Latin supremus, superlative of superus upper — more at superior Date: 1513 1. highest in rank or authority <the supreme commander> 2. highest in degree or quality <supreme endurance in war and in labour — R. W. Emerson> 3. ultimate, final <the supreme sacrifice> • supremely adverb • supremeness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 highest in authority or rank. 2 greatest; most important. 3 (of a penalty or sacrifice etc.) involving death. --n. 1 a rich cream sauce. 2 a dish served in this. Phrases and idioms: the Supreme Being a name for God. Supreme Court the highest judicial court in a State etc. supreme pontiff see PONTIFF. Supreme Soviet the governing council of the USSR or one of its constituent republics. Derivatives: supremely adv. supremeness n. Etymology: L supremus, superl. of superus that is above f. super above

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Supreme Su*preme", a. [L. supremus, superlative of superus that is above, upper, fr. super above: cf. F. supr[^e]me. See Super-, and cf. Sum.] 1. Highest in authority; holding the highest place in authority, government, or power. He that is the supreme King of kings. --Shak. 2. Highest; greatest; most excellent or most extreme; utmost; greatist possible (sometimes in a bad sense); as, supreme love; supreme glory; supreme magnanimity; supreme folly. Each would be supreme within its own sphere, and those spheres could not but clash. --De Quincey. 3. (Bot.) Situated at the highest part or point. The Supreme, the Almighty; God.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. Supreme is used in the title of a person or an official group to indicate that they are at the highest level in a particular organization or system. MacArthur was Supreme Commander for the allied powers in the Pacific. ...the Supreme Court. ADJ: ADJ n 2. You use supreme to emphasize that a quality or thing is very great. Her approval was of supreme importance... ADJ [emphasis] • supremely She gets on with her job and does it supremely well. ADV: ADV adj/adv

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Highest, greatest, paramount, predominant, principal, chief, leading, first, pre-eminent. 2. Highest, greatest, superlative. 3. Utmost, greatest possible.

Moby Thesaurus

absolute, acmatic, all-absorbing, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-seeing, all-wise, almighty, apical, ascendant, at the head, authoritarian, authoritative, authorized, autocratic, best, boss, boundless, brilliant, capital, cardinal, champion, changeless, chief, choice, clothed with authority, commanding, competent, consequential, considerable, consummate, controlling, creating, creative, crowning, dominant, duly constituted, elect, elite, eminent, empowered, eternal, eternally the same, everlasting, ex officio, excellent, extreme, final, first, first-class, first-rate, for the best, foremost, general, glorious, good, governing, great, greatest, hallowed, handpicked, head, headmost, hegemonic, hegemonistic, highest, holy, immortal, immutable, imperative, important, in ascendancy, in charge, in chief, in the ascendant, incomparable, infinite, influential, inimitable, just, last, leading, limitless, loftiest, loving, luminous, main, majestic, making, master, masterful, masterly, matchless, maximal, maximum, merciful, meridian, meridional, mighty, momentous, monocratic, most, numinous, official, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, one, optimal, optimum, outstanding, overmost, overriding, overruling, paramount, peerless, perfect, permanent, perpetual, picked, plenipotentiary, potent, powerful, predominant, predominate, preeminent, premier, prepollent, preponderant, preponderate, prepotent, prestigious, prevalent, primary, prime, principal, prize, prominent, puissant, quintessential, radiant, ranking, regnant, regulating, regulative, regulatory, reigning, ruling, sacred, select, senior, shaping, sovereign, sublime, substantial, summital, superb, superior, superlative, surpassing, timeless, tip-top, top, top-notch, topmost, totalitarian, towering, transcendent, ubiquitous, ultimate, unbounded, unchanging, undefined, unequaled, unexcelled, unlimited, unmatchable, unmatched, unparalleled, unrivaled, unsurpassable, unsurpassed, upmost, uppermost, utmost, uttermost, vertical, very best, weighty, zenithal