previously
Americanadverb
Etymology
Origin of previously
Explanation
The adverb previously is good for talking about something that happened in the past. If you've read a novel previously, you might just skim it before your book group meets to discuss it. When you talk about things that happened before, whether recently or in the distant past, the word previously can be helpful. You could mention at a job interview that before your current job, you were previously employed as a flight attendant, or tell a date that though you're single now, you were previously married to a famous movie star. Previously comes from the adjective previous, with its Latin root praevius, "going before," from prae, "before," and via, "road."
Vocabulary lists containing previously
Academic Vocabulary Toolkit 1, Words 71-80
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Lesson 12
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: pre-
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Lady Donaldson faces a trial of the facts after she was previously deemed unfit to face a conventional trial on mental health grounds, and is therefore not participating in proceedings.
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026
Called Claude Fable 5, the large language model will mostly let users query Mythos, which the company previously deemed was too dangerous for general release.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026
U.K. pharmaceutical giant GSK on Tuesday struck a $10.6 billion deal to buy U.S.-listed biotech company Nuvalent, its biggest acquisition in eight years as it seeks to bolster the cancer portfolio it had previously trimmed.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026
Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, Judex Atshatshi, 18, and a 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, previously appeared in court over the fire and were bailed until August.
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026
This alerts us to a feature of Brunelleschi’s peep-show I have not previously mentioned: he stood, according to Manetti, inside the porch of the cathedral.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
