paramount issue
1
5.2
- noun
- /ˈpɛrəmˌaʊnt ˈɪʃu/
:
cuestión primordial
- In the meeting, the team agreed that environmental sustainability is the paramount issue for their new project.
Examples
-
Teacher-librarians have made a valiant attempt to attract young users on the basis that quality information online is a paramount issue.
Academic text (2007) -
There isn't a poll out there that doesn't have some combination of the economy, jobs, and the deficit as by far the paramount issues in this election.
Blog text (29) -
In American foreign policy regarding the Middle East, a trend has developed into a paramount issue.
Blog text (25) -
The paramount issue in the treaty cessions is the meaning of property in American society.
Academic text (1993) -
During the previous democratic period, the paramount issue for many social actors was to foster national autonomy in relation to the world economic system.
Academic text (2000) -
Today, during which the paramount issue of church-state separation was raised, Bush confidently stated:
Academic text (2005) -
Safety being the paramount issue, MH 7 is entirely appropriate, but again the low number of points on offer is hardly an inducement for a practice to get its act together.
Academic text (2010) -
After he had made the alleged corruption of the Earle administration the paramount issue of his own campaign, Margiotti was dismissed from the office of attorney general.
Academic text (1996) -
The paramount issue regarding mitigation processes is how best to trigger ongoing innovative technologies that will reduce the enormous gap between present greenhouse gas emissions and the levels needed for stabilization.
Academic text (2002) -
The safety of the children is our paramount issue that must be addressed immediately.
Synonyms
831
3.7
A thing you think is more important and should be done first
70
3.5
The most important thing to deal with first
51
3.2
An important problem that needs a solution
42
2.3
The main problems in a discussion or situation
41
3.0
A problem that needs careful attention and action
Antonyms
How Important
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase's meaning is directly compositional: 'paramount' = more important than all others and 'issue' = a subject or problem, so a 'paramount issue' is an issue more important than all others. This follows the regular adjective+noun pattern and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.
Etymology
Paramount issue comes from the word paramount, which creates the image of something on the very top of a hill or mountain, above everything else. So a paramount issue is the problem that is 'most important' and must be solved before the others.