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.
The GP was based at Grimston Medical Centre and had previously been at Heacham Group Practice for several years.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Transportation planners previously said it could cost more than $5 billion to move the tracks inland.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
The two co-founders who were previously reportedly barred from leaving China were spotted at Manus's recent product launch event in Singapore last month.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Guilfoyle’s lawyer previously told the Journal that “the claim that an American Dream dinner was an ‘investment pitch’” was false.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
It was true: If the Baby Ominous Landscape style of painting had not previously existed, Beowulf had surely invented it now.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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.
