ascendancy.

A position of superior power or influence over others.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• gain ascendancy
• political ascendancy
• in the ascendancy

On the page

The merchants gained ascendancy while the old families argued over ceremonial privileges.

As dusk deepened, the forest recovered its ascendancy over the road.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary. Forms: Usually uncountable; plural ascendancies for distinct periods or forms of dominance. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.