Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use prefer in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb

Prefer means to be in the habit of choosing something rather than something else; to favor; to like better. Example: “I prefer tea to coffee.”

Examples of prefer by meaning

verbTo be in the habit of choosing something rather than something else; to favor; to like better.

  • I prefer tea to coffee.
  • I'd prefer it if you didn't do it.
  • The February kid he should retain, also the full-grown goat; the goatling he should sell, also its kid, unless he prefers using it for the table.1907, The Quarterly Review, volume 207, page 119

More sentences with prefer

  • Some people prefer apple pie, but me, I’m a cherry pie man.From the entry man
  • Jim drinks his coffee black, but Ellen prefers it with creamer.From the entry black
  • For this task, I prefer the plastic sheeting that is 10 mills thick.From the entry mill
  • For this task, I prefer the plastic bars that are 10 mills in diameter.From the entry mill
  • This copy has too much lead; I prefer less space between the lines.From the entry lead
  • Acid House is not my bag: I prefer the more traditional styles of music.From the entry bag
  • I prefer the u in Arial to the one in Times New Roman.From the entry u
  • We prefer candidates with a minimum of 4 years experience in the field.From the entry minimum
  • My boyfriend and I are both sides; we prefer to do oral and other stuff.From the entry side
  • I prefer being a top, and my boyfriend prefers being a bottom.From the entry top
  • I'd prefer to deep copy that in order to avoid complications with updates.From the entry deep copy
  • Although he has a number of admirers, he prefers to remain single.From the entry admirer
  • Our new dog shows reluctance to go on walks, preferring to be indoors.From the entry reluctance
  • When she is on her period, she prefers not to go swimming.From the entry period
  • For this task, I prefer the plastic sheeting that is 10 mils thick.From the entry mil
  • For this task, I prefer the plastic bars that are 10 mils in diameter.From the entry mil
  • I only wear high heels on formal occasions; otherwise, I prefer sensible shoes.From the entry sensible
  • I'm not a big fan of watercolour; I much prefer oil painting.From the entry watercolour
  • When it comes to painting, I prefer using acrylics as my medium.From the entry acrylic
  • I like gin and tonic as a mixed drink, but I really prefer beer.From the entry mixed drink
  • Many politicians prefer to grandstand on hot-button issues rather than enact tough policy changes.From the entry grandstand
  • We drink tequila as a shooter, but prefer to sip gin slowly to appreciate the flavour.From the entry shooter
  • As far as the choice makes any difference, I prefer the second option.From the entry as far as
  • Some old folks prefer the amenities of 55+ communities, while others prefer a cabin in the woods.From the entry old folks
  • I thought I liked the default settings, but it turned out that it's your presets I prefer.From the entry preset
  • Teachers prefer true or false or multiple-choice tests because they can be graded so easily.From the entry true or false
  • I'd prefer to use a hard redirect so that people don't even notice we've reorganised the site.From the entry hard redirect
  • I prefer to work the night shift, but I take the day shift in stride.From the entry night shift
  • I prefer making my kids' toys myself rather than buying them.From the entry rather than
  • I prefer to work the day shift, but I take the night shift in stride.From the entry day shift
  • He'll ride a horse now and then, but he prefers them long-eared hardtails.From the entry hardtail
  • Some moulds prefer to live on bread, but others are epixylous.From the entry epixylous
  • I prefer facing a boss a bit underleveled because of the extra challenge.From the entry underleveled
  • I prefer grinding exp until I'm overleveled for a boss: it's less frustrating in the long run.From the entry overleveled
  • I prefer to clean the fish I catch right away, while I’m astream.From the entry astream
  • Paper-based examinations are becoming less popular with candidates, who prefer computer-based ones.From the entry paper-based
  • Commercial lawn care businesses often prefer zero-turns because of their maneuverability and speed.From the entry zero-turn

Meaning of prefer

  1. verb To be in the habit of choosing something rather than something else; to favor; to like better.
  2. verb To advance, promote (someone or something).
  3. verb To present or submit (something) to an authority (now usually in "to prefer charges").

Full definition of prefer

Questions about prefer in a sentence

How do you use prefer in a sentence?
Prefer is used as a verb. For example: “I prefer tea to coffee.”
What is a short sentence with prefer?
“I prefer tea to coffee.”
What does prefer mean?
Prefer means to be in the habit of choosing something rather than something else; to favor; to like better.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: prefer (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use prefer in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/prefer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.