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 exchanges highlighted the political dynamics emerging ahead of the June 2 primary, where only two top finishers will advance to a November runoff. —Teresa Liu, Daily News, 8 May 2026

Richards will be activated ahead of Friday’s series opener against the Seattle Mariners at Rate Field, Venable said, and the Sox will make a corresponding move. —Lamond Pope, Chicago Tribune, 7 May 2026

Listen to that below, ahead of the record’s release on June 26. —Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 7 May 2026

Marisa Tomei, Kelly Macdonald, and David Harewood will lead season two of Sky and HBO‘s returning legal drama War, ahead of the show’s season one launch. —Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 7 May 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