as in previous
going before another in time or order
behavior that may be explained by a precedent event in her troubled life
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Recent Examples of precedent
These tools can generate a first-draft NDA within seconds by drawing on vast training libraries of precedent agreements and current market standards.
—
Allbusiness, Forbes.com, 18 Mar. 2026
Even when Disney brought back Ortega for their Descendants franchise in 2015 — a film about the children of Disney villains — IP took precedent time and time again above the story.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 24 Jan. 2026
This adaptation demands re-conceiving large chunks of plot from the ground-up while retaining Liu’s themes, not to mention visualizing concepts with less precedent onscreen than the fantasy tropes Martin deployed and subverted.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 9 Mar. 2024
Many legal scholars question the basis for declaring an ever-wider array of cases to be super-precedent as a way to protect favored rulings.
—Jonathan Turley, WSJ, 15 Oct. 2020
See All Example Sentences for precedent
Allbusiness, Forbes.com, 18 Mar. 2026
Even when Disney brought back Ortega for their Descendants franchise in 2015 — a film about the children of Disney villains — IP took precedent time and time again above the story.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 24 Jan. 2026
This adaptation demands re-conceiving large chunks of plot from the ground-up while retaining Liu’s themes, not to mention visualizing concepts with less precedent onscreen than the fantasy tropes Martin deployed and subverted.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 9 Mar. 2024
Many legal scholars question the basis for declaring an ever-wider array of cases to be super-precedent as a way to protect favored rulings.
—Jonathan Turley, WSJ, 15 Oct. 2020
See All Example Sentences for precedent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for precedent
previous
Adjective
-
In previous Middle East conflicts, American diplomats constantly shuttled across the region, working with allies to build up momentum for a political resolution.—
Sudarsan Raghavan,
New Yorker,
12 May 2026
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So next season very much becomes like 2024-25, when a failure to make the playoffs could mean an unprotected first-round pick going out the following year (which would have been this year’s draft due to a previous obligation to the Thunder).—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
12 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Precedent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/precedent. Accessed 16 May. 2026.
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