early

Plural: earlies

Adjective

• at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
  • "early morning"
  • "an early warning"
  • "early diagnosis"
  • "an early death"
  • "took early retirement"
  • "an early spring"
  • "early varieties of peas and tomatoes mature before most standard varieties"
• being or occurring at an early stage of development
  • "in an early stage"
  • "early forms of life"
  • "early man"
  • "an early computer"
• of an early stage in the development of a language or literature
  • "the Early Hebrew alphabetical script is that used mainly from the 11th to the 6th centuries B.C."
  • "Early Modern English is represented in documents printed from 1476 to 1700"

Adjective Satellite

• belonging to the distant past
  • "the early inhabitants of Europe"
• very young
  • "at an early age"
• expected in the near future
  • "look for an early end to the negotiations"

Adverb

• Near the beginning of a period, time, or sequence.
• during an early stage
  • "early on in her career"
• before the usual time or the time expected
  • "she graduated early"
• in good time

Adj

• At a time in advance of the usual or expected event.
• Arriving a time before expected; sooner than on time.
• After but close to the start of a period of time.
• In the starting hours of the day.
• Having begun to occur; in its early stages.
• Of a star or class of stars, hotter than the sun.

Noun

• A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place early in the day.

Adv

• At a time before expected; sooner than usual.
• Soon; in good time; seasonably.

Examples

• at eleven, we went for an early lunch; she began reading at an early age; his mother suffered an early death
• early cancer
• Early results showed their winning 245 out of 300 seats in parliament. The main opponent locked up only 31 seats.
• I had children too early (in life), so my first baby arrived early.
• It's too early for this sort of thing. I'm not awake yet.
• Playing "EARLY" felt ironic, as it was already late in the Words With Friends game.
• The early guests sipped their punch and avoided each other's eyes.
• The play "Two Gentlemen of Verona" is one of Shakespeare's early works.
• We finished the project an hour sooner than scheduled, so we left early.
• You're early today! I don't usually see you before nine o'clock.

Synonyms

ahead of time, betimes, early on, former, other, too soon, early, early doors, first, premature, prematurely

Antonyms

late, middle, mid, tardily, terminal

Related Words

premature

Anagrams of early