prior to

preposition

: in advance of : before

Usage of Prior to

Although prior to is occasionally criticized as a pretentious way of saying before, it is well-established in formal contexts, such as the annual reports of corporations. In some of these contexts, it serves to emphasize the procedural nature of something.

page makeup decisions are verified and approved prior to typesetting

—Publishers Weekly

Synonyms of prior to

• before
• previous to
• to

Examples of prior to in a Sentence

make sure all revisions are approved by the author prior to publication

Recent Examples on the Web

Liverpool’s existing partnership with Japan Airlines remains unchanged with that contract due to end next May prior to the start of the deal with Turkish Airlines. — James Pearce, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026

Early testers report promising results DeepMind gave several scientists access to Atlas to beta test it prior to today’s release. — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 8 Sep. 2026

So, on the Friday just prior to a US holiday weekend, the Department of Defense released a copy of the agreement and confirmed that it had been signed roughly a month earlier. — John Timmer, ArsTechnica, 8 Sep. 2026

The Seahawks were just the fourth team sold in the past 10 years—five sold in the decade prior to that. — Kurt Badenhausen, Sportico.com, 8 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1706, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for prior to

• accrue
• ado
• ainu
• aircrew
• airscrew
• anew
• askew
• baboo
• babu
• bamboo
• beaucoup
• bijou

Kids Definition

prior to

preposition

: in advance of : before