prior to

preposition

: in advance of : before

Usage of Prior to

Although prior to is occasionally criticized as a pretentious way of saying before, it is well-established in formal contexts, such as the annual reports of corporations. In some of these contexts, it serves to emphasize the procedural nature of something.

page makeup decisions are verified and approved prior to typesetting

—Publishers Weekly

Synonyms of prior to

• before
• previous to
• to

Examples of prior to in a Sentence

make sure all revisions are approved by the author prior to publication

Recent Examples on the Web

That is, until the referees wiped it off the board because Bell’s toe had stepped out-of-bounds prior to the catch. — Miami Herald, 5 Oct. 2026

All of the region’s existing reactors were built by utilities prior to deregulation. — John Moritz, Hartford Courant, 4 Oct. 2026

The idea of Aurora fronting some of the maintenance costs had been floated by former Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin in a letter a couple months prior to that, documents provided by Batavia suggest. — Molly Morrow, Chicago Tribune, 4 Oct. 2026

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders made a surprise onstage appearance Friday to introduce the Strokes prior to the band’s concert at Queens, New York’s Flushing Meadows. — Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 3 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1706, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for prior to

• accrue
• ado
• ainu
• aircrew
• airscrew
• anew
• askew
• baboo
• babu
• bamboo
• beaucoup
• bijou

Kids Definition

prior to

preposition

: in advance of : before