premature

adjective

ˌprē-mə-ˈchu̇r How to pronounce premature (audio)
Definition of prematurenext
as in early
occurring before the usual or expected time his premature arrival at his own surprise party almost ruined everything

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 premature Baby Kolek was born premature last week, which is why Stephen is still away from the team, manager Matt Quatraro said today. — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 4 Sep. 2026 But as the Live Nation case demonstrates, any sighs of relief among leaders of America’s oversize businesses would be premature. — James Surowiecki, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2026 For the past 16 years, she’s been able to give back to other premature babies. — Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 2 Sep. 2026 The instruction is used carefully in Massachusetts to avoid pressuring any individual juror, and Lu said giving it now would have been premature. — Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 2 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for premature
Recent Examples of Synonyms for premature
  1. early
  2. untimely
  3. unexpected
  4. sudden
  5. precocious
  6. inopportune
Adjective
  • The extremely small separation between the two graphene systems allowed the screening effect to be much stronger than in earlier experiments.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Prosecutors say Castro briefly struggled with Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, then fired through a front door into an occupied home, hitting him in the leg, contradicting earlier federal accounts.
    — Valerie Gonzalez, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of early
Adjective
  • The generational curse in question involves the men who fall in love with the Owens women, who are destined to die untimely deaths.
    — Leigh Blickley, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Their deaths, untimely in proximity, have devastated many fans.
    — Melina Khan, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of untimely
Adjective
  • Piker reacted with surprise and amusement to his unexpected appearance during a livestream.
    — Brandi D. Addison, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Despite the richness of color, everything feels beautifully cohesive, a design language that is fresh, considered, and full of unexpected details.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of unexpected
Adjective
  • And at the end of it all, a euphoric fan base, tipsy with its sudden reversal of fortune, belted out a 1976 Abba song in South Florida.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2026
  • The model is pulled in ten different directions by different internal product teams, resulting in an interface that suffers from sudden behavioral resets and an inability to smoothly execute complex, multi-turn human requests.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of sudden
Adjective
  • The son of Taiwanese immigrants, Hsu was a precocious talent and became a professional skateboarder in his mid-teens.
    — Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Espada inserted him in place of Cam Smith, the precocious young talent still struggling to harness consistency at the major-league level.
    — Chandler Rome, New York Times, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of precocious
Adjective
  • Stanford went 5 of 15 on third down and was hampered by a slew of inopportune penalties that Miami capitalized on.
    — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 5 Sep. 2026
  • It won’t be redeveloped due to its inopportune location set between two sets of railroad tracks, Smith said.
    — Jenna Ebbers, Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of inopportune

Browse Nearby Words

premarital
premature
prematurely
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Premature.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/premature. Accessed 12 Sep. 2026.

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