supermajority

English

Alternative forms

• super-majority, supramajority

Etymology

From super- (“above, greater than”) +‎ majority.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌs(j)upɜɹməˈd͡ʒɔɹɪti/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

supermajority (plural supermajorities)

1. (chiefly Canada, US) A majority of the items being counted that reaches some preset threshold significantly greater than 50 percent, such as two thirds.

   Synonym: (chiefly UK) qualified majority

   • 1915 April 2, “‘Caisson Disease’ in a Severe Form”, in Manitoba Free Press, Winnipeg, Manitoba, page 9, column 2:

     It was in order to exclude not water, but the light of day, that the Roblin Government kept its super-majority on the Public Accounts Committee working under such heavy pressure, with two foremen on the job, Taylor and Coldwell, who kept them so hard at it that the Liberals were prevented from getting at the full facts of the Kelly work on the new Parliament buildings and the Roblin Government work on the Provincial Treasury in connection with Kelly.

   • 2013 November 30, Ross Ramsey, “Supermajority Poses Dilemma for Both Parties”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     The Texas Senate operates on a supermajority, too. Under ordinary circumstances, it takes approval from two-thirds of the 31 senators to bring a bill to the floor for debate.

   • 2019 March 5, Tim Wu, “The Oppression of the Supermajority”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     The defining political fact of our time is not polarization. It’s the inability of even large bipartisan majorities to get what they want on issues like these. Call it the oppression of the supermajority.

   • 2021 April 15, Libby Brooks, “Could Salmond’s ‘Supermajority’ Talk Harm the Scottish Independence Cause?”, in The Guardian‎^[3], London:

     Launching his new political party, Alba, he [Alex Salmond] claimed he could help secure a “supermajority” for independence in the next Scottish parliament, which would significantly weaken Westminster’s opposition to a second independence referendum.

Coordinate terms

• superminority, qualified minority, plurality, relative majority, simple majority, absolute majority

Related terms

• supermajoritarian
• supermajoritarianism

Collocations

Nouns often modifying "supermajority"

• two-thirds, three-fifths, three-quarters

Adjectives often used with "supermajority"

• parliamentary, legislative, vote, Democratic, Republican, necessary, requisite, large

Translations

majority that reaches a preset threshold level

• Arabic: غَالِبِيَّة عُظْمَى f (ḡālibiyya ʕuẓmā), أَغْلَبِيَّة عُظْمَى f (ʔaḡlabiyya ʕuẓmā)
• Catalan: majoria qualificada f
• Czech: kvalifikovaná většina (cs) f, supervětšina f
• Danish: kvalificeret flertal (da) f
• Dutch: gekwalificeerde meerderheid f
• Finnish: määräenemmistö (fi)
• French: majorité qualifiée (fr) f
• German: qualifizierte Mehrheit f
• Hebrew: הצבעת רוב
• Hungarian: minősített többség (hu)
• Italian: maggioranza qualificata f
• Maltese: maġġoranza kwalifikata f
• Polish: większość bezwzględna f, większość absolutna f
• Portuguese: maioria qualificada f
• Spanish: mayoría calificada f, mayoría cualificada f
• Swedish: kvalificerad majoritet (sv) c

References

• “supermajority, n.” under “super-, prefix”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2022.

Further reading

• “supermajority”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “supermajority”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “supermajority”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
• “supermajority”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “supermajority” (US) / “supermajority” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.