earlier

Language: en

🇬🇧 /ˈɜːlɪə/ 🇺🇸 /ˈɜrliːɜr/

📖 Definitions

  1. adjective
    Comparative form of early; happening or coming before the present time or before another specified time.
  2. adverb
    Comparative form of early; at or towards a time preceding the present or another specified time.
  3. noun
    A person or thing that is earlier than another; a predecessor. (Rare)

🔗 Details

Word forms

Comparative: earlier Superlative: earliest

Collocations

early morningearly stageearly onearly birdearly warningat an early ageearly days

Derivatives

earliness

Synonyms

prematureadvancebeforehandprompttimely

Antonyms

latebelatedtardy

Commonly confused

soon
EN: 'early' refers to before the expected or usual time; 'soon' refers to a short time from now or from a reference point.
formerly
EN: 'early' relates to time within a period (early in the day/career); 'formerly' means previously or in the past.

Spelling tips

EN: The comparative and superlative change 'y' to 'i': 'earlier' and 'earliest' (not 'earlyer' or 'earlyest').

💬 Examples

  1. We caught an earlier train to avoid the rush hour traffic.

  2. I should have arrived earlier to get a good seat.

  3. The literary critics often compare the modern poet to her earlier.