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
That’s because precedent changes in small but important ways all the time.
—
Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2025
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
Britain has no clear privacy law, so precedent matters.
—The Economist, 3 Oct. 2019
See All Example Sentences for precedent
Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2025
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
Britain has no clear privacy law, so precedent matters.
—The Economist, 3 Oct. 2019
See All Example Sentences for precedent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for precedent
previous
Adjective
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By 2 payouts and previous drawings here.—
USA Today staff,
USA Today,
17 Feb. 2026
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The Dutch star has twice come second to Stolz at this year’s Games despite breaking the previous Olympic records himself.—
Ben Church,
CNN Money,
16 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Precedent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/precedent. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
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