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earlier

  • comparative
    of early.
    early
    adverb
    in or during the first part of a period of time, a course of action, a series of events, etc..
  • a word form of early.
    early
    adverb
    in or during the first part of a period of time, a course of action, a series of events, etc..

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.

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Average hourly wages for permanent employees rose 2% on a year earlier, following a 2.3% rise in September.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

Denton had been hired by the department about two years earlier.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026

Investors now question the prospects for the imminent initial public share offering from Claude-maker Anthropic, which had been tipped to surpass SpaceX's earlier this year as the biggest ever.

From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026

The layoff rate in Canada continues to hold steady, standing at 0.7% last month compared with 0.6% a year earlier.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

Speaking of observantness, I noticed that when you said bye earlier, you actually said, and I quote, “bye forever, I guess.”

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows