arear

arear is the alternative spelling of arrear.

Meaning of arrear

arrear (comparative more arrear, superlative most arrear)

(obsolete) Towards the rear, backwards.
- She, (Ladie) having well before approoved / The feends to be too cruell and severe, / Observ'd th' appointed way, as her behooved, / Ne ever did her ey-sight turne arere [...].1591, Edmund Spenser, Virgil's Gnat, ll. 465-8
(obsolete) Behind time; overdue.
- In case the annuity should be arrear for sixty days being lawfully demanded, then the trustee might enter upon the premises assigned [...].1803, Edward Hyde East, Reports of cases Argued and determined in the Court of King's Bench, volume 3, London, published 1814, page 559

arear (third-person singular simple present arears, present participle arearing, simple past and past participle areared)

Adverb
comparative	more arear
superlative	most arear
Verb
third-person singular present	arears
present participle	arearing
past participle	areared
past	areared

See arrear (adverb).

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

What does arear mean?: Arear means to raise or erect, to set up or stir up.
What is arear the alternative spelling of?: Arear is the alternative spelling of arrear.
What part of speech is arear?: Arear is a verb.
What is the past tense of arear?: The past tense of arear is areared.

Adapted from Wiktionary: arear (page history and authors); arrear (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “arear.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/arear. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.