 4 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
ascendant
adjective
1: tending or directed upward; "rooted and ascendant strength
like that of foliage"- John Ruskin [syn: {ascendent},
{ascensive}]
2: most powerful or important or influential; "the economically
ascendant class"; "D-day is considered the dominating
event of the war in Europe" [syn: {ascendent}, {dominating}]
noun
1: position or state of being dominant or in control; "that
idea was in the ascendant" [syn: {ascendent}]
2: someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote
than a grandparent) [syn: {ancestor}, {ascendent}, {antecedent},
{root}] [ant: {descendant}]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Ascendant \As*cend"ant\, Ascendent \As*cend"ent\, adjective
1. Rising toward the zenith; above the horizon.
The constellation . . . about that time ascendant.
--Browne.
2. Rising; ascending. --Ruskin.
3. Superior; surpassing; ruling.
An ascendant spirit over him. --South.
The ascendant community obtained a surplus of
wealth. --J. S. Mill.
Without some power of persuading or confuting, of
defending himself against accusations, . . . no man
could possibly hold an ascendent position. --Grote.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Ascendant \As*cend"ant\, noun [F. ascendant, L. ascendens; p. pr.
of ascendere.]
1. Ascent; height; elevation. [R.]
Sciences that were then in their highest ascendant.
--Temple.
2. (Astrol.) The horoscope, or that degree of the ecliptic
which rises above the horizon at the moment of one's
birth; supposed to have a commanding influence on a
person's life and fortune.
Note: Hence the phrases
{To be in the ascendant}, to have commanding power or
influence, and
{Lord of the ascendant}, one who has possession of such power
or influence; as, to rule, for a while, lord of the
ascendant. --Burke.
3. Superiority, or commanding influence; ascendency; as, one
man has the ascendant over another.
Chievres had acquired over the mind of the young
monarch the ascendant not only of a tutor, but of a
parent. --Robertson.
4. An ancestor, or one who precedes in genealogy or degrees
of kindred; a relative in the ascending line; a
progenitor; -- opposed to {descendant}. --Ayliffe.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
152 Moby Thesaurus words for "ascendant":
a cut above, above, absolute, ahead, anabatic, antecedent,
ascendancy, ascending, ascensional, ascensive, at the head,
authoritarian, authoritative, authorized, autocratic, better, boss,
capping, chief, chosen, climbing, clothed with authority,
commanding, competent, conquering, consequential, considerable,
controlling, defeating, distinguished, dominance, dominant,
domination, dominion, duly constituted, eclipsing, eminent,
empowered, ex officio, exceeding, excellent, excelling, finer,
flushed with success, forebear, forefather, forerunner, general,
governing, great, greater, head, hegemonic, hegemonistic, higher,
imperative, important, in ascendancy, in charge, in chief,
in the ascendant, influential, leading, leaping, major, marked,
master, masterdom, mighty, momentous, monocratic, mounting,
of choice, official, on the throne, one up on, outstanding, over,
overbearing, overcoming, paramount, potent, powerful, precursor,
predecessor, predominant, predominate, preeminence, preeminent,
prepollent, preponderance, preponderant, preponderate, prepotence,
prepotent, prestigious, prevailing, prevalent, primogenitor,
progenitor, prominent, puissant, rampant, ranking, rare, rearing,
regnant, regulating, regulative, regulatory, reigning, rising,
rivaling, ruling, saltatory, scandent, scansorial, senior,
skyrocketing, sovereign, sovereignty, spiraling, springing,
substantial, successful, super, superior, supreme, surpassing,
swaying, topping, totalitarian, transcendent, transcendental,
transcending, triumphal, triumphant, uparching, upcoming, upgoing,
upgrade, uphill, uphillward, upper, uprising, upsloping, upward,
upwith, vanquishing, victorious, weighty, winning
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