dominant
/ˈdɑmənənt/noun, adjective
dominant is spelled D-O-M-I-N-A-N-T. The wrong spelling people search most is dominiant: about 10 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 133 of all searches for the word. Dominant is a noun meaning “The fifth major tone of a musical scale (five major steps above the note in question); thus G is the dominant…”. The plural of dominant is dominants.
How many letters and syllables are in dominant?
| Letters | 8: D-O-M-I-N-A-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 17 times per million words; the 4,838th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, dominiant, about 10 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell dominant?
Dominant is spelled D-O-M-I-N-A-N-T. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 133 of the searches for dominant in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is dominant?
Dominant appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,838th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce dominant?
- UK /ˈdɒmɪnənt/
- US /ˈdɑmənənt/
- Canada /ˈdɒmɪnənt/
Dominant has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-dominant.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-NaomiAmethyst-dominant.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of dominant
- dominants plural
- more dominant comparative
- most dominant superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dominant mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The fifth major tone of a musical scale (five major steps above the note in question); thus G is the dominant of C, A of D, and so on.
- 2
The triad built on the dominant tone.
- 3
Of an allele, that a heterozygote for the allele has the same phenotype as the homozygote.
- 4
A species or organism that is dominant.
- 5
The dominating partner in sadomasochistic sexual activity.
adjective
- 1
Ruling; governing; prevailing
The dominant party controlled the government.
- 2
Predominant, common, prevalent, of greatest importance.
The dominant plants of the Carboniferous were lycopods and early conifers.
- 3
Of a body part, preferred and used with greater dexterity than the other, as the right hand of a right-handed person or the left hand of a left-handed one.
- 4
Designating the follicle which will survive atresia and permit ovulation.
- 5
Being the dominant
Dominant seventh
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dominant in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does dominant come from?
Borrowed from Middle French dominant.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).