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Showing results for first and foremost. Search instead for first and foremost/adverb.
Definitions

first and foremost

ADVERB
mainly
Synonyms
STRONG
chiefly primarily principally
WEAK
above all essentially generally in general in the main largely most of all mostly on the whole overall predominantly substantially to the greatest extent usually
Antonyms
STRONG
secondarily
ADVERB
primarily
Synonyms
WEAK
at first at the start from the start in the first place initially originally primitively
Antonyms
WEAK
finally secondarily
ADVERB
principally
Synonyms
STRONGEST
basically chiefly generally importantly largely mostly notably particularly predominantly
STRONG
primarily
WEAK
above all before anything else cardinally dominantly eminently especially essentially first of all for the most part fundamentally in the first place in the main materially peculiarly preeminently prevailingly prevalently substantially superlatively supremely to a great degree universally vitally
Antonyms
WEAK
secondarily trivially

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“It shows them, first and foremost, that you are interested and you are prepared.”

From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026

Jessa Lingel, a digital culture and technology expert at the University of Southern California, said the content is first and foremost "bad".

From BBC • Mar. 28, 2026

In “Forging Democracy: The History of the Left in Europe, 1850–2000,” Geoff Eley writes that fascist violence was directed first and foremost against the organized working class and its institutions.

From Salon • Mar. 28, 2026

But first and foremost, Bad Omens are gifted musicians, and whatever eldritch magic Sebastian wields onstage will always be bolstered by a serious band contorting metal, dark pop and electronic music.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026

This is not to say that it is not shaped by culture as well as evidence; but the culture which shapes it is, first and foremost, the culture of science itself.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.