Synonyms for main
- central
- essential
- fundamental
- leading
- major
- particular
- preeminent
- primary
- prime
- special
- vital
- capital
- cardinal
- chief
- head
- necessary
- premier
- star
- controlling
- critical
- crucial
- foremost
- outstanding
- paramount
- prevailing
- stellar
- supreme
Antonyms for main
- auxiliary
- common
- inessential
- inferior
- minor
- ordinary
- secondary
- subordinate
- trivial
- unimportant
- usual
- unnecessary
- extra
- insignificant
- nonessential
EXAMPLES FROM THE WEB FOR MAIN
That they would use the drug to excess there can be no doubt, and that is the main point.
Then let the main pressure be felt by its inventors and publishers.
"You are evading the main point, Rushton," said the superintendent.
Kennedy and I pushed along slowly with the main lot of horses.
"Up the Main Street, and across the drawbridge," said the soldier, goodnaturedly.
But when he came to the main square, the heart of the town, it was quite empty.
One of the main points of interest at the home of Mr. Gladstone is the library.
The management of the war was the main subject under discussion.
I saw her in Carlton's, that new confectioner's shop on Main Street.
My working with it was the main point, since it was working with me always.
WORD ORIGIN
Old English mægen (n.) "power, bodily strength, force, efficacy," from Proto-Germanic *maginam "power," suffixed form of PIE root *magh- (1) "be able, have power" (see may (v.)). Original sense preserved in phrase with might and main. Meaning "principal channel in a utility system" is first recorded 1727 in main drain; Used since 1540s for "continuous stretch of land or water." In Spanish Main the word is short for mainland and refers to the coast between Panama and Orinoco.