earlier

English · Thesaurus

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earlier

/ˈɝliɚ/ US
/ˈɜː.lɪə/ UK

adjective

comparative comparative form of early: more early
occurring previously I shall be late because I missed the earlier train.

adverb

comparative comparative form of early: more early
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.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: before, past, sooner, originally, beforehand, previously, antecedent, former, aforementioned, already, previous, formerly, prior, erstwhile, foregoing, prev

Translations

Every language

adj occurring previously

Português	precedente, anterior
Deutsch	vorherig
Italiano	precedente
Ελληνικά	προηγούμενος proïgoúmenos

adv previously; before now; sooner

Español	antes
Português	antes, mais cedo
Français	plus tôt
Deutsch	vorher
Italiano	prima

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MLA

"earlier." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/earlier. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

earlier. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/earlier

Chicago

"earlier." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/earlier.

BibTeX

@misc{earlier_2026,
  title = {earlier},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/earlier},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}