ascendant

American  

[uh-sen-duhnt] / əˈsɛn dənt /

Or ascendent

noun

1. a position of dominance or controlling influence: possession of power, superiority, or preeminence.

   With his rivals in the ascendant, he soon lost his position.

2. an ancestor; forebear.

3. Astrology. the point of the ecliptic or the sign and degree of the zodiac rising above the eastern horizon at the time of a birth or event: the cusp of the first house.

---

adjective

1. ascending; rising.

2. superior; predominant.

3. Botany. directed or curved upward.

ascendant British  

/ əˈsɛndənt /

adjective

1. proceeding upwards; rising

2. dominant, superior, or influential

3. botany another term for ascending

---

noun

1. rare an ancestor

2. a position or condition of dominance, superiority or control

3. astrology (sometimes capital)

   1. a point on the ecliptic that rises on the eastern horizon at a particular moment and changes as the earth rotates on its axis

   2. the sign of the zodiac containing this point

4. increasing in influence, prosperity, etc

Other Word Forms

• nonascendant adjective
• nonascendantly adverb
• nonascendent adjective
• nonascendently adverb
• unascendant adjective
• unascendent adjective

Etymology

Origin of ascendant

1350–1400; Middle English ascendent < Latin ascendent- (stem of ascendēns ) climbing up. See ascend, -ent, -ant

Explanation

Something that's ascendant is increasing its power or status. An ascendant political party is one that captures more and more seats in Congress with every election. Things are ascendant when they're growing in importance. It's common to use this adjective to describe people or groups that have already achieved a lot of power and whose influence continues to grow. Ascendant was originally a term in astronomy, although today it's used in astrology to mean the sign of the Zodiac rising in the east when someone's born. The Latin root is ascendere, "to go up," but also figuratively "to rise," or "to reach."

Example Sentences

Two years later One Nation appeared ascendant, picking up 11 seats in Queensland's state election and winning 8.4% of primary votes in the federal election.

From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026

Julian Alvarez headed wide as Atletico, ascendant, looked for a second.

From Barron's • Feb. 24, 2026

The Dodgers have plenty of young pitchers who could step in, from ascendant minor-league prospect Jackson Ferris, to returning 2024 breakout rookies River Ryan and Gavin Stone, to the more-established Justin Wrobleski and Emmet Sheehan.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 2026

Dr. Carly Fox, a senior veterinarian at New York’s Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, said that flat-faced dogs—they’re “brachycephalic” for people in the know—have been ascendant in the past decade.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025

Washington, for his part, obliged his Virginia critics by urging his stepgrandson to attend Harvard in order to escape the provincial versions of learning currently ascendant in the Old Dominion.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Related Words

• predominant