supreme
/suːˈpriːm
/adjective
1Highest in rank or authority: a unified force with a supreme commander...
- The commanders in chief exercised supreme authority in their respective zones and acted in concert on questions affecting the whole country.
- It was also entirely possible, although I don't recall, that the president would also have to put his signature on a document as the supreme authority in the Niger regime.
- Unity can be achieved only by maintaining a strict homogeneity of views or submission or subordination to a single authority, necessarily the supreme leader of the Communist Party.
Synonyms
highest ranking, highest, leading, chief, head, top, foremost, principal, superior, premier, first, cardinal, prime, sovereign;
directing, governing;
greatest, dominant, predominant, pre-eminent, overriding, prevailing
1.1Most important or powerful: on the race track he reigned supreme...
- The dinosaurs reigned supreme for 135 million years, until another comet colliding with Earth took them out.
- Daddy was obliterated and the Chief reigned supreme!
- Gunpowder reigned supreme until the invention of more powerful substances, notably nitroglycerin and its offshoot, dynamite.
2Very great or the greatest: he was nerving himself for a supreme effort...
- Coaches and athletes, some of them interviewed anonymously, say that after one supreme national effort, the hothouse intensity of the Chinese way will not survive the 2008 games.
- I was lucky in that I already knew about half the people there, but it seemed very easy to wander up and talk to the ones I didn't know, primarily because of the supreme efforts of our host and his team of helpers to make us feel at home.
- I knew that holding the candy in her plump little hands all that time without unwrapping it represented a supreme effort of the will for my incurably chocoholic daughter.
Synonyms
extraordinary, remarkable, incredible, extreme, intense, great, phenomenal, rare, surpassing, exceptional, outstanding, incomparable, inimitable, unparalleled, unrivalled, peerless, greatest, utmost, uttermost, maximum;
severe, acute
2.1 [postpositive] Very good at or well known for a specified activity: people expected the marathon runner supreme to win
2.2(Of a penalty or sacrifice) involving death: our comrades who made the supreme sacrifice...
- What is there to say to the anguished mother who asks why her child's death wasn't important enough to warrant the supreme penalty?
- We want to pay our tribute to those loved ones, those departed individuals who made the supreme sacrifice here on the basis of their opinions about how this thing ought to be handled.
- When nations are engaged in deadly strife, it is common for patriots to declare that he who gives his life for defense of his country may be certain of a home in heaven because of having made the supreme sacrifice.
Synonyms
final, last, ultimate;
utmost, extreme, total, unconditional, greatest, highest;
fatal, lethal, mortal
noun
1 (also suprême /suːˈprɛm/) [mass noun] A rich cream sauce.
1.1A dish served in a supreme sauce: chicken supreme
From French suprême
Phrases
the Supreme Being
Derivatives
supremeness
Origin
Late 15th century (in the sense 'highest'): from Latin supremus, superlative of superus 'that is above', from super 'above'.
superior from Late Middle English:
This came via Old French from Latin superior ‘that is higher’, from super ‘above’. The noun use meaning ‘person of higher rank’ is recorded from the late 15th century. Supreme (Late Middle English) is one step higher, from supremus ‘highest’.