majority

Plural

majorities

1. 1.More than half (50%) of some group.

   • The majority agreed that the new proposal was the best.
   • Those opposing the building plans were in the majority, so the building project was canceled.

2. 2.In a parliament or legislature, the difference in seats between the ruling party and the opposition; (UK) in an election, the difference in votes between the winning candidate and the second-place candidate, or between the winning candidate and all of the other candidates combined.

   • The winner with 53% had a 6% majority over the loser with 47%.
   • The ruling party had a narrow three-seat majority in the legislature.

3. 3.The office held by a member of the armed forces in the rank of major.

   • On receiving the news of his promotion, Charles Snodgrass said he was delighted to be entering his majority.
   • He was a captain before he went to the front, and following the Argonne battles he got his majority and the command of the divisional machine-guns.

4. 4.Ancestors; ancestry.

   • Of evil parents an evil generation, a posterity not unlike their majority; of mischievous progenitors, a venomous and destructive progeny.

Overall

Common· #1077

By learning goal

Everyday conversation

Uncommon

General reading & writing

Common

Academic

Uncommon

Literature

Rare

Antonyms

• minority

Word family

• major