paramount
PAIR-uh-mountadjMeaning more important than anything else
Memory hook PARA-MOUNT: high above the rest, like a MOUNTain. On Tia’s hiking list, “Stay safe” towers above everything else, like a mountain over little hills. Safety is paramount.
On the field trip, safety was paramount.
In context For the rescue team, speed was paramount; every minute counted, so they left their lunches behind and ran.
Similar supreme, foremost, chief, key
Opposite minor, secondary, lesser
From Anglo-French paramont, “above, at the top,” going back to Latin ad montem, “to the mountain.”