as in previous
existing at an earlier time; existing before something else
The insurance does not cover preexisting medical conditions. They made changes to the preexisting law.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
as in preceding
to go or come before in time
an advanced Mesoamerican civilization whose apex and collapse preexisted the arrival of Europeans by hundreds of years
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of preexisting
Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 2 Sep. 2025
Hospitals and clinics across my district are seeing higher rates of respiratory distress, particularly among vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly, and those with preexisting conditions.
—Kenton Gewecke, ABC News, 4 Aug. 2025
My collaborators have preexisting software, which will, every night, get new observations of all the small bodies and objects in the solar system.
—Darryl Z. Seligman, The Conversation, 3 July 2025
The Legislature injecting itself between two parties to rewrite preexisting contracts would create terrible precedent.
—Jay Neveloff, New York Daily News, 11 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for preexisting
Adjective
Bottle episodes are designed to save money for more ambitious episodes elsewhere in a season through some combination of only using preexisting sets, hiring few (if any) guest actors, and not doing time-consuming set pieces.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 2 Sep. 2025
Hospitals and clinics across my district are seeing higher rates of respiratory distress, particularly among vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly, and those with preexisting conditions.
—Kenton Gewecke, ABC News, 4 Aug. 2025
My collaborators have preexisting software, which will, every night, get new observations of all the small bodies and objects in the solar system.
—Darryl Z. Seligman, The Conversation, 3 July 2025
The Legislature injecting itself between two parties to rewrite preexisting contracts would create terrible precedent.
—Jay Neveloff, New York Daily News, 11 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for preexisting
Recent Examples of Synonyms for preexisting
Adjective
-
The squad were close to previous manager Nuno Espirito Santo and have been coming to terms with his departure.—
Paul Taylor,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
-
The donation is twice the size of Scott’s previous donation to the same organization in 2021 and represents 20% of the organization’s fundraising so far.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Lemmon is constantly shifting against the background stars beyond and is best viewed in the hours preceding dawn for those in the northern hemisphere.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
14 Oct. 2025
-
But when the 2021 New York City mayoral election came along, DSA didn't endorse a candidate, despite the fact that the organization had amassed a large canvassing infrastructure in the years preceding it.—
Halle Troadec,
ABC News,
10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
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
Adjective
-
Anyone who loses will receive five bonus bets that add up to the initial stake.—
Tyler Everett,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 Oct. 2025
-
Calderhead focuses on the British tactic, enacted two days after the initial attack, of moving their fleet into Flushing Bay to anchor for the night.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
18 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The original sword requested by administration officials was given to Eisenhower in 1947 by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.—
Matthew Kelly,
Kansas City Star,
13 Oct. 2025
-
Gathering more accurate data about right whales while revising the original law would help protect the animals, Olsen said.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
12 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Preexisting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/preexisting. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share