Word.ws English Dictionary

preferred

UK/pɹɪˈfɜːd//pɹɪˈfɝd/

preferred is the simple past and past participle of prefer.

preferred is the simple past and past participle of preferre.

Meaning of prefer

Verb

prefer (third-person singular simple present prefers, present participle preferring, simple past and past participle preferred)

  1. (transitive) To be in the habit of choosing something rather than something else; to favor; to like better.
    • I prefer tea to coffee.
    Synonyms:
    fain, favor, forechoose
    Antonyms:
    disprefer
  2. (dated, transitive) To advance, promote (someone or something).
    • So ſhall you haue a ſhorter iourney to your deſires, by the meanes I ſhall then haue to preferre them. And the impediment moſt profitably remoued, without the which there were no expectation of our proſperitie.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
  3. (transitive) To present or submit (something) to an authority (now usually in "to prefer charges").
    • […], let him go,
      And preſently preferre his ſuite to Cæſar.1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  4. (obsolete, transitive) To put forward for acceptance; to introduce, recommend (to).
    • one Master David Hume, who making some use of his purse, gave him Letters to his friends in Scotland to preferre him to King Iames.1630, John Smith, chapter 1, in The True Travels, Adventures, and Observations of Captaine Iohn Smith, London: Thomas Slater, page 2

Adjective

preferred (comparative more preferred, superlative most preferred)

  1. favoured

Noun

preferred (plural preferreds)

  1. Preferred stock.
    • Naturally, closed-end funds’ common shareholders love the juice that auction-rate preferreds provide.2008 March 30, Gretchen Morgenson, “If You Can’t Sell, Good Luck”, in New York Times

Antonyms of preferred

Forms of preferred

Verb
alternative formpræferred
Adjective
comparativemore preferred
superlativemost preferred
Noun
pluralpreferreds

Words formed from preferred

Phrases with preferred

Words that rhyme with preferred

35 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about preferred

What does preferred mean?
Preferred means favoured.
What is preferred the simple past and past participle of?
Preferred is the simple past and past participle of prefer.
What part of speech is preferred?
Preferred can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce preferred?
Preferred is pronounced /pɹɪˈfɜːd/ (UK).

Words near preferred in the dictionary

  1. preferr
  2. preferrable
  3. preferrableness
  4. preferrably
  5. preferre
  6. preferred
  7. preferred creditor
  8. preferred creditors
  9. preferred number
  10. preferred numbers
  11. preferred provider

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: preferred (page history and authors); prefer (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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-preferred.ogg.

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