Synonyms of prior
22 similar words · 1 opposite word
Another word for prior is provost. Other synonyms of prior are advance, antecedent, anterior, earlier and erstwhile. The opposite of prior is posterior.
Synonyms and similar words for prior
adjectiveComing before in order or time; earlier, former, previous.
- advance
- antecedent
- anteriorComing before or earlier in time or development, prior to, preceding.
- earlierOccurring previously.
- erstwhileFormer, previous.
- exThe place the train originated from or called at prior to the present location.
- foregone
- formerPrevious.
- old
- olden
- past
- precedingOccurring before or in front of something else, in time, place, rank or sequence.
- precedent
- previousPrior; occurring before something else, either in time or order.
- quondamFormer; once; at one time.
- sometime
- used-to-beFormer, ex-.
- whilomAt some time in the past; former, sometime.
- hitherto archaicExisting or occurring before now; former, preceding, previous.
adverbChiefly followed by to: in advance, before, previously.
Opposite of prior
nounA prior probability distribution, that is, one determined without knowledge of the occurrence of...
- posteriorThe probability that a hypothesis is true (calculated by Bayes' theorem).
Meaning of prior
- adjective Coming before in order or time; earlier, former, previous.
- adjective More important or significant.
- adjective Chiefly in prior probability: of the probability of an event: determined without knowledge of the occurrence of other events that bear on it, before additional data is collected.
prior in other languages
Questions about synonyms of prior
- What is another word for prior?
- Prior has 22 synonyms on Word.ws, such as provost, advance, antecedent, anterior, earlier, erstwhile, ex and foregone.
- What is the opposite of prior?
- The opposite of prior is posterior.
- What does prior mean?
- Prior means coming before in order or time; earlier, former, previous.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: prior (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Synonyms of prior.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/prior. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.