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?

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use early in a sentence?

1. Susan Stryker:

   There were probably a couple hundreds of people fighting and it's remembered as one of the early significant trans/queer resistance movements.

2. David Miller:

   My God turns evil to good, because of this, I got a CT scan in my head to make sure he didn’t do any real damage. Because of that, they found a small, benign tumor that will get treated at an early stage.

3. Temple University:

   Any word you say a lot becomes an early word for little kids, you probably say,' Alexa' often because you start a sentence with it to play a song. Anything that generates a response is a likely candidate for an early word — no matter what it is.

4. Daniel Pinto:

   The outcomes could range from a very small change to a substantial one, where you would have to duplicate some of the infrastructure you now have in the UK, it is too early to say what products you are going to be able to provide from where.

5. Sri Paravaikkarasu:

   Indians may ask Iran for more discount in exchange for early payment for oil purchases instead of a 60-day credit period.