ahead of

preposition

1

: in front or advance of

They were ahead of us in line.

2

: in excess of

Synonyms of ahead of

• before
• prior to
• in advance of
• to

Examples of ahead of in a Sentence

She got ahead of me.

They went on ahead of us and by now are several miles ahead of us.

We have some hard work ahead of us.

The polls show that he is ahead of the other candidates.

The company is working hard to stay one step ahead of the competition.

They were trailing us by 5 points earlier in the game, but now they're ahead of us by 7.

Recent Examples on the Web

The feels-like temperature was 103 degrees ahead of the match, prompting many men to go shirtless outside the gates and a few to dunk their heads in a reflecting pool by the main entrance. — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 4 July 2026

People traveled from all over to attend the KC festivities ahead of the match against Ghana on Friday, July 3. — Julianna Mejia, Kansas City Star, 3 July 2026

When the two competing versions tested, the scores surprisingly dropped significantly, although the studio’s inched out ahead of Gillespie’s…but by only two points, according to sources. — Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 3 July 2026

Photos of the elder Khamenei from his early years in power to his final days were on display across the capital Friday ahead of the funeral processions expected to be attended by millions. — Chantal Da Silva, NBC news, 3 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1613, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for ahead of

• above
• foxglove
• hereof
• thereof
• whereof
• dove
• glove
• love
• shove
• hereinabove

Kids Definition

ahead of

preposition

: in or at a place or time before

got ahead of me

we're ahead of schedule