earlier

Adjective Satellite

• (comparative and superlative of `early') more early than; most early
  • "a fashion popular in earlier times"
  • "his earlier work reflects the influence of his teacher"
• belonging to the distant past
• very young
• expected in the near future

Adjective

• at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
• being or occurring at an early stage of development
• of an early stage in the development of a language or literature

Adverb

• At a preceding time or period; before now.
• earlier in time; previously
  • "he called me the day before but your call had come even earlier"
  • "her parents had died four years earlier"
  • "I mentioned that problem earlier"
• comparatives of `soon' or `early'
  • "came earlier than I expected"
• before now

Adj

• comparative form of early: more early
• occurring previously

Adv

• comparative form of early: more early
• previously; before now; sooner

Examples

• He wished he had seen the opening for EARLIER, but now it was too late.
• I shall be late because I missed the earlier train.
• I'd seen earlier (in the day).

Synonyms

before, earliest, early, former, in the beginning, in the first place, originally, other, sooner, to begin with

Antonyms

late, middle

Anagrams of earlier