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

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are digging in ahead of the Tuesday night deadline. —Max Zahn, ABC News, 30 Sep. 2025

Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer, Nathan Lee Graham, and Linda Lavin led the cast, although Lavin passed away in December 2024 ahead of the series premiere. —Joe Otterson, Variety, 29 Sep. 2025

Chinese buyers have now pivoted to Argentina, which recently suspended taxes on soybean exports ahead of a pledge from the White House to bail out Buenos Aires’ ailing economy. —J.d. Capelouto, semafor.com, 29 Sep. 2025

Because of this, attorneys don’t always know ahead of time where the judges who’ll hear their clients’ cases are coming from, Cartwright said. —Noe Padilla, IndyStar, 29 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