Earlier

//ˈɝliɚ// adj, adv

adj, adv ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    comparative form of early: more early comparative, form-of
  2. 2
    occurring previously

    "I shall be late because I missed the earlier train."

Adjective
  1. 1
    (comparative and superlative of ‘early’) more early than; most early wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    comparative form of early: more early comparative, form-of
  2. 2
    previously; before now; sooner

    "From what I vaguely saw earlier this morning, when I had just woken up and was tidying my bed, a tall, bulky person left an unfamiliar box at my front door."

Adverb
  1. 1
    earlier in time; previously wordnet
  2. 2
    before now wordnet
  3. 3
    comparatives of ‘soon’ or ‘early’ wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
antecedentanteriorbeforebeforehandformerlypreceding

Example

More examples

"It is regrettable that you did not start earlier."

Related phrases

before now

More for "earlier"

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.