Beforehand

//bɪˈfɔːhænd// adj, adv

adj, adv ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    In comfortable circumstances as regards property; forehanded. obsolete

    "rich and much beforehand"

  2. 2
    In a state of anticipation or preoccupation. archaic, often

    "Agricola […] resolves to be beforehand with the danger."

Adjective
  1. 1
    being ahead of time or need wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    At an earlier or preceding time. not-comparable

    "Will it be possible to have access to the room beforehand so that we can set up chairs?"

Adverb
  1. 1
    ahead of time; in anticipation wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
aheadbeforeearlyin advanceadvanceahead

Example

More examples

"We tried to eliminate all danger beforehand."

Etymology

From Middle English biforhand, biforhond, beforehonde, bifornhand, equivalent to before + hand. [13th century. After Old French avant main].

Related phrases

beforehand in the worldbeforehand with the world

More for "beforehand"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.