ahead of

preposition

1

: in front or advance of

2

: in excess of

Synonyms

• before
• prior to
• in advance of
• to
• previous 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

So too has Turning Point USA, with executive director Andrew Kolvet telling the Washington Examiner that the organization Kirk launched in 2012 was not drawing any preliminary conclusions or getting ahead of law enforcement. —Naomi Lim, The Washington Examiner, 16 Sep. 2025

Ethereum experienced a similar surge ahead of its ETF launch, climbing from about $2,500 in early July 2024 to $3,940 by July 21, 2024. —Trefis Team, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025

That means investors may be getting a bit ahead of themselves. —David Goldman, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2025

Prior to word leaking about Beasley potentially being looked into by the Eastern District of New York just a few days ahead of free agency, the Pistons had reportedly offered him a three-year, $42 million free agent deal. —Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Sep. 2025

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