predominantly

Everyday

(formal) Mostly; mainly; for the greatest part. tree →

In the lessons

In geography, science and exam writing it summarises data: a region is predominantly forest; the class is predominantly girls. It tells the reader that most, but not all, of something is like this. In maths problems it hints at more than half.

Examples

• The forest is predominantly made up of pine trees. tree →
• The town is predominantly English-speaking. tree →
• Koalas eat predominantly eucalyptus leaves. tree →
• The weather in Ireland is predominantly mild and wet. tree →
• Our class is predominantly made up of nine-year-olds. tree →
• The book is predominantly about friendship. tree →

Note

Formal; in everyday talk say mostly or mainly. Adjective: predominant. Spelling: pre-dom-in-ant-ly. In numbers, it means more than half, usually much more, but not all.