Cardinal
Cardinal adjective - Coming before all others in importance.
Usage example: the cardinal rule of medicine: do no harm
Sovereign and cardinal are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Sovereign" instead an adjective "Cardinal".
Nearby Words: cardinally, cardinality
Sovereign
Sovereign adjective - Coming before all others in importance.
Usage example: the sovereign issue for voters is the inadequate performance of the local schools
Cardinal and sovereign are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Cardinal" instead an adjective "Sovereign".
Nearby Word: sovereignty
Mutual synonyms
Both words in one sentence
- Similarly, Cardinal Raymond Burke was reassigned by Pope Francis from his post as Cardinal Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura to being the Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (an order with only 13,000 members), a purely ceremonial role.
Cite this Source
Sovereign and Cardinal. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 27, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/cardinal/sovereign
Cardinal & Sovereign. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/cardinal/sovereign>.
Sovereign or Cardinal. 2016. Accessed July 27, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/cardinal/sovereign.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "cardinal" and "sovereign" have occurred on timeline