Used in a Sentence

earlier

How to use earlier in a sentence. Example sentences and definitions for earlier.

Editorial note

Look at the rise of the 8-bit look and sound that harks back to an earlier era.

Examples10
Definitions4
Parts of speech2

Quick take

(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"; "Verdi's earliest and most raucous opera"

Meaning at a glance

The clearest senses and uses of earlier gathered in one view.

adjective

(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"; "Verdi's earliest and most raucous opera"

adverb

earlier in time; previously; "I had known her before"; "as I said before"; "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"

adverb

comparatives of `soon' or `early'; "Come a little sooner, if you can"; "came earlier than I expected"

Definitions

Core meanings and parts of speech for earlier.

adjective

(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"; "Verdi's earliest and most raucous opera"

adverb

earlier in time; previously; "I had known her before"; "as I said before"; "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"

adverb

comparatives of `soon' or `early'; "Come a little sooner, if you can"; "came earlier than I expected"

adverb

before now; "why didn't you tell me in the first place?"

Example sentences

1

Look at the rise of the 8-bit look and sound that harks back to an earlier era.

2

We had seen the older couple earlier, but we didn't know them, and they were gone by the time we got our bill.

3

* The earlier in your career it is now, the more important this time is for your development.

4

But the candidates we've hired lately compare extremely well to our earlier teams!

5

So when earlier it was mentioned, I assumed "They have to have a different angle on this; they're a YC company.

6

The same woman had a hearty laugh earlier in the firing meeting after joking, "I bet you didn't expect your afternoon to go like this, huh?

7

> Until that point, his only brush with the law was a temporary restraining order two years earlier.> "He started threatening me, saying that he would kill me.

8

If we really cared about benchmark performance over anything else we would have dealt with the locking issues earlier so multi-threaded benchmarks would be better.

9

A passive attacker could, in an earlier version of the Dragonfly protocol, discern how many iterations through the loop had happened to find a valid point given a password.

10

" Harkens back to the earlier discussion in the interview about the 'self-censorship' pyramid for journalists.- Journalists should give all of their source data, not just choice quotes, so that people can make up their own minds.

Frequently asked questions

Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.

How do you use earlier in a sentence?

Look at the rise of the 8-bit look and sound that harks back to an earlier era.

What does earlier mean?

(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"; "Verdi's earliest and most raucous opera"

What part of speech is earlier?

earlier is commonly used as adjective, adverb.