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.
Russia's heavy bombardment of the power grid ahead of winter has been an annual feature of the war, aimed at wearing down Ukraine's appetite for the fight by denying civilians heat and running water. — Arkansas Online, 18 Oct. 2026 Leo was deemed ready to leave hospital after blood tests and an X-ray, his doctors said ahead of his release. — Christopher Lamb, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2026 With a full slate of college football ahead of us and great games on the horizon, there are endless options for what to wager on. — Outkick, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026 Now, she was focused on helping to increase voter participation ahead of the midterms. — Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 17 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 20 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 compunction

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

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

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

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

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

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
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
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All