ahead of

preposition

Synonyms of ahead ofnext
1
: in front or advance of
They were ahead of us in line.
2
: in excess of

Synonyms of ahead of

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of ahead of in a Sentence

She got ahead of me. They went on ahead of us and by now are several miles ahead of us. We have some hard work ahead of us. The polls show that he is ahead of the other candidates. The company is working hard to stay one step ahead of the competition. They were trailing us by 5 points earlier in the game, but now they're ahead of us by 7.
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Newport Beach also declared a local emergency yesterday to free up resources ahead of the storm’s landfall, after experiencing significant coastal flooding overnight. — Erika Angulo, NBC news, 11 Oct. 2026 Macedo wrote a letter to Steve Kawa, the chair of the authority’s board, ahead of the meeting saying that Choudri had misused taxpayer money and abused public trust. — Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 10 Oct. 2026 Related Stories Speaking with Variety ahead of the premiere, Saldanha recalls veteran producer Paula Consenza bringing him the project before the pandemic. — Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 10 Oct. 2026 However, as Mariska Hargitay notes, the story was written far ahead of the current events, and instead is meant to speak to the prevalence of rape victims struggling to find justice. — Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 10 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for ahead of

Word History

First Known Use

1613, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of ahead of was in 1613

Rhymes for ahead of

See All Rhymes for ahead of

Browse Nearby Words

ahead
ahead of
ahead of one's/its time
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Ahead of.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ahead%20of. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

ahead of

preposition
: in or at a place or time before
got ahead of me
we're ahead of schedule
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of deportment

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Why do we call it a 'flea market'?
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All