as in ahead
so as to precede something in order of time
he had arrived earlier to take care of some preliminary matters
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for earlier
Adverb
-
That same year, Bass jumped in about eight months ahead.—
David Zahniser,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026 -
And ultimately in February, this is a big month coming ahead for us here and that’s right in front of us.—
Joe Arruda,
Hartford Courant,
5 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
Lemon made his first public comments after federal authorities arrested him on Thursday for partaking in an anti-ICE protest at a Minnesota church earlier this month.—
David Zimmermann,
The Washington Examiner,
31 Jan. 2026
-
The House is expected to come back early next week to take up the Senate deal, which includes five spending bills but stripped out a bipartisan bill funding DHS until September and replaced it with a two-week bill.—
Burgess Everett,
semafor.com,
31 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
The mission, which aims to take its astronauts deeper into space than ever before, will hopefully pave the way for the return of humans to the surface of the moon for the first time since the breakthrough Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s.—
Brian Brant,
PEOPLE,
30 Jan. 2026
-
The city has been sued before over shelter dogs that severely injured people after their bite histories allegedly were not disclosed.—
Sandra McDonald,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
Many were either already public or heavily blacked out.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
31 Jan. 2026
-
Bell has already ordered another season, as fans in China, Russia and around the world binge Season 1.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
31 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
Repossession data for 2025 is not available, but an executive from an industry trade group previously told CNN that repo volumes are close to Great Recession levels.—
Matt Egan,
CNN Money,
5 Feb. 2026
-
These maps revealed that Jupiter is about 5 miles narrower at the equator and roughly 15 miles flatter at the poles than previously thought.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Earlier.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/earlier. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.
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