# dominant

/ˈdɑmənənt/ (US) · /dˈɒmɪnənt/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/dominant
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. powerful or influential

adjective · CEFR B2

more powerful, important, or noticeable than others.

For teachers: commanding, controlling, or prevailing over others; having the most influence in a hierarchy or situation.

- The company has a dominant position in the market because it has no real competitors.
- The dominant political party maintained its influence by controlling the local media and securing key legislative appointments.

### 2. genetics

adjective · CEFR C1 · Technical

describing a gene that shows its effect even if you only have one copy of it.

For teachers: relating to an allele that is expressed in the phenotype even when only one copy is present in the genotype.

- Brown eyes are usually a dominant trait, while blue eyes are recessive.
- In Mendelian genetics, the dominant allele masks the expression of the recessive one in heterozygous individuals.

### 3. most common

adjective · CEFR B2 · Academic

the most common or frequent thing in a particular place or group.

For teachers: prevailing or most frequent within a specific ecological or statistical context.

- Oak trees are the dominant species in this part of the forest.
- The dominant theme in her early poetry is the tension between industrial progress and the preservation of the natural world.

### 4. music

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

the fifth note of a musical scale.

For teachers: the fifth degree of the diatonic scale, or the triad built upon that note.

- The song moves from the tonic chord to the dominant to create tension.
- The composer utilised a secondary dominant to modulate smoothly into the new key during the bridge section.

## Examples

- The dominant team won every game this season.
- English has become the dominant language for international business and scientific research.
- The company maintained its dominant market position by aggressively acquiring smaller competitors and investing heavily in proprietary technology.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.