WORD OF THE DAY: EMINENTLY

WORD OF THE DAY: EMINENTLY

adverb|EM-uh-nunt-lee

What It Means

Eminently is used as a synonym of very and means “to a high degree.”

// Our team came up with an eminently sensible plan to reduce waste.

Examples of EMINENTLY

“This was jazz of the highest order—challenging, yet accessible, eminently entertaining and arrestingly beautiful. Goosebumps were felt.” — T’Cha Dunlevy, The Gazette (Montreal, Canada), 8 July 2025

Did You Know?

When British physician Tobias Venner wrote in 1620 of houses “somewhat eminently situated,” he meant that the houses were located at an elevated site—they were literally in a high place. That use has since slipped into obsolescence, as has the word’s use to mean “conspicuously”—a sense that reflects its Latin root, ēminēre, which means “to stick out” or “protrude.” All three meanings date to the 17th century, but today’s figurative sense of “notably” or “very” is the only one now regularly encountered.

Merriam Webster Dictionary