überwiegend

Meaning (English)

überwiegend means “predominant / mostly / for the most part / largely.”
It describes something that makes up the largest share or occurs more than anything else, without necessarily being exclusive.

• überwiegend = mostly
• überwiegend used with nouns often corresponds to “predominantly” in English.

Examples (for sense):

• überwiegend positiv = mostly positive
• überwiegend aus Frauen bestehend = consisting predominantly of women

Word parts (structure)

• über- = over, above (often indicating “more than” or “exceeding”)
• wiegend comes from wiegen in an older sense meaning “to weigh” (not “to rock/cradle” here), so the idea is: “weighing more (than the rest)” → predominant.

German synonyms

• größtenteils
• meistens
• zumeist
• vorwiegend
• weitgehend (often similar, but can mean “largely / to a great extent”)

German antonyms (if applicable)

Depending on context:

• kaum (hardly)
• selten (rarely)
• vereinzelt (isolated, occasional)
• minderheitlich (in the minority; used when talking about groups/percentages)