1
: earlier in time or order
2
: taking precedence (as in importance)
priorly
adverb
plural priors
1
a
: the superior ranking next to the abbot of a monastery
b
: the superior of a house or group of houses of any of various religious communities
2
US law enforcement, informal
: a previous instance of arrest or conviction for a crime
He had been told that burglary, like auto theft, rarely drew a state prison term, unless you had lots of priors.—
Joseph Wambaugh
Joseph WambaughExamples of prior in a Sentence
Adjective
Do you have a prior history of back problems?
The job requires prior experience in advertising.
The defendant had a prior record of convictions.
I'm sorry, but we have a prior commitment and can't come tonight.
We have a prior claim to the estate.
Recent Examples on the Web
Robert Daugherty, Forbes.com, 29 Oct. 2025
Its rice recipes are an important, and tragic, reminder that Africans were primarily brought to this region to exploit their prior expertise with African rice to farm an Asian variety that would later be nicknamed Carolina Gold because of its color and economic value.
—Adrian Miller, Southern Living, 28 Oct. 2025
Michelle Lee, PEOPLE, 25 Sep. 2025
The school district did not comment on the lack of a license or Gilkey-Meisegeier’s priors.
—Melissa Chan, NBC news, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prior
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Adjective
Second, the government data flow has been choppy in October, but alternative indicators and prior releases still point to slower growth alongside inflation that remains above target but trending less sticky at the margin.
—Robert Daugherty, Forbes.com, 29 Oct. 2025
Its rice recipes are an important, and tragic, reminder that Africans were primarily brought to this region to exploit their prior expertise with African rice to farm an Asian variety that would later be nicknamed Carolina Gold because of its color and economic value.
—Adrian Miller, Southern Living, 28 Oct. 2025
Noun
The stars had called off their engagement in September 2013 after postponing their wedding the April prior.
—Michelle Lee, PEOPLE, 25 Sep. 2025
The school district did not comment on the lack of a license or Gilkey-Meisegeier’s priors.
—Melissa Chan, NBC news, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prior
Cite this Entry
“Prior.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prior. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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