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

Ambitious Republicans were already sizing up JD Vance ahead of the 2028 presidential primary. — Katherine Doyle, Washington Post, 8 Nov. 2026

San Francisco residents turned out Saturday for the city's first neighborhood sandbag giveaway, part of an effort to protect homes and businesses ahead of what could be a record-setting El Niño winter. — Da Lin, CBS News, 8 Nov. 2026

Fox's Big Noon Kick-off visited West Point ahead of their matchup against rival Air Force Academy . — Jon Root Outkick, FOXNews.com, 7 Nov. 2026

Skarsgard’s comments come as the search for the next actor to play 007 continues ahead of Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming film. — Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 7 Nov. 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