Synonyms for early
ˈɜr liear·ly

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:1.0 / 1 vote

1. earlyadjective

   Synonyms:
   prematurely, premature, first

   Antonyms:
   late, tardily

2. earlyadjective

   At a time in advance of the usual or expected event.

   We finished the project an hour sooner than scheduled, so we left early.

   Synonyms:
   first, premature, prematurely

   Antonyms:
   late, tardily

3. earlyadjective

   Arriving a time before expected; sooner than on-time.

   Synonyms:
   first, premature

   Antonyms:
   late

4. earlyadjective

   Near the start or beginning.

   Synonyms:
   premature, first

   Antonyms:
   late

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. early

   Synonyms:
   soon, betimes, forward, shortly, quickly, ere long, anon, matutinal, beforehand

   Antonyms:
   late, tardily, backward, vespertinal, belated

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:3.0 / 2 votes

1. earlyadjective

   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"

   Synonyms:
   former(a), early(a), other(a)

   Antonyms:
   New, latish, present(a), late, future, advanced(a), ripe, after-hours, Modern, advanced, posthumous, mid(a), past, intervening, old, middle, later(a), tardive, tardily, belatedly

2. earlyadjective

   being or occurring at an early stage of development

   "in an early stage"; "early forms of life"; "early man"; "an early computer"

   Synonyms:
   former(a), early(a), other(a)

   Antonyms:
   past, present(a), middle, New, mid(a), posthumous, advanced(a), late, future, tardive, ripe, latish, advanced, Modern, intervening, later(a), old, after-hours, belatedly, tardily

3. early(a), former(a), other(a)adjective

   belonging to the distant past

   "the early inhabitants of Europe"; "former generations"; "in other times"

   Antonyms:
   ripe, advanced, future, advanced(a), intervening, present(a), late, mid(a), middle, posthumous, old, New, latish, Modern, later(a), past, tardive, after-hours, tardily, belatedly

4. earlyadjective

   very young

   "at an early age"

   Synonyms:
   former(a), early(a), other(a)

   Antonyms:
   middle, New, after-hours, ripe, latish, mid(a), past, old, advanced(a), tardive, late, advanced, present(a), Modern, future, intervening, later(a), posthumous, belatedly, tardily

5. earlyadjective

   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"

   Synonyms:
   former(a), early(a), other(a)

   Antonyms:
   advanced, posthumous, mid(a), New, old, present(a), late, latish, advanced(a), Modern, future, ripe, middle, tardive, after-hours, intervening, later(a), past, tardily, belatedly

6. earlyadverb

   expected in the near future

   "look for an early end to the negotiations"

   Synonyms:
   former(a), early(a), other(a)

   Antonyms:
   middle, later(a), old, advanced(a), late, present(a), latish, mid(a), tardive, after-hours, New, past, posthumous, intervening, advanced, ripe, future, Modern, belatedly, tardily

7. early on, earlyadverb

   during an early stage

   "early on in her career"

   Synonyms:
   betimes, early on, too soon, ahead of time

   Antonyms:
   later(a), old, late, present(a), after-hours, future, New, ripe, latish, middle, mid(a), advanced, Modern, advanced(a), past, posthumous, intervening, tardive, tardily, belatedly

8. early, ahead of time, too soonadverb

   before the usual time or the time expected

   "she graduated early"; "the house was completed ahead of time"

   Synonyms:
   betimes, early on, ahead of time, too soon

   Antonyms:
   New, future, Modern, later(a), tardive, middle, advanced(a), mid(a), present(a), advanced, late, ripe, past, latish, after-hours, old, posthumous, intervening, tardily, belatedly

9. early, betimesadverb

   in good time

   "he awoke betimes that morning"

   Synonyms:
   betimes, early on, ahead of time, too soon

   Antonyms:
   New, later(a), mid(a), advanced, latish, past, middle, intervening, Modern, ripe, late, present(a), old, posthumous, after-hours, advanced(a), future, tardive, belatedly, tardily

Matched Categories

1. • Linguistics

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. earlyadjective

   Synonyms:
   timely, seasonable, in season, not late

2. earlyadjective

   Synonyms:
   forward, premature

3. earlyadjective

   Synonyms:
   at dawn, at day-break, at the opening of day

4. earlyadjective

   Synonyms:
   soon, betimes, seasonably, in good season, in good time

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. earlyadjective

   Synonyms:
   seasonable, timely, forehanded, premature

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "early":

   beginning, earlier, soon, sooner, premature, first, rapid, precocious, principles, initial, start, prompt, quickly, rapidly, prematurely, quick, speedy, commencement, onset, advance, korai, timely, fast, promptly, preliminary, dawn, anticipated, swift, young, expeditious, expeditiously, initially

Suggested Resources

1. Early

   Soon vs Early -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Soon and Early.

How to pronounce early?

How to say early in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use early in a sentence?

1. Wayne Barnett:

   No candidates have qualified yet, but it is still early in the process.

2. Bruno Lannes:

   It's too early to say, but there is no real indication that this has a major impact, I think, on the brands.

3. Syrian Nora Joumblatt in response:

   We are in danger of losing generations of young Syrian girls due to the lack of education, desperate and displaced Syrians are increasingly seeing early marriage as a way to secure the social and financial future of their daughters. We need to provide an alternative: Keep young girls in school instead of being pressured into wedlock.

4. Paul Limburg:

   While more of the puzzle is being pieced together from a scientific perspective, it will still take years to conduct and complete the rigorous clinical research necessary to put these tests into everyday practice, one of the challenges to developing a blood test to detect early-stage cancers is that the bloodstream only has minute levels of tumor DNA.

5. Philip Marey:

   It is the (low) inflation picture that will deter them from pulling the trigger on interest rates early.