ahead
ahead Lexical Profile
ahead Game Scores & Validity
• adverb
Further forward in space or in a line of movement; in front.
"She walked briskly ahead while the rest of the hiking group paused to rest."
In or for the future; in advance of a scheduled time or event.
"You should always plan ahead when booking international travel during the summer."
Into a more advantageous, successful, or leading position.
"She worked tirelessly for years to get ahead in the competitive publishing industry."
• adjective
Situated directly in front in space or lying in the future.
"The engineering team prepared carefully for the challenging months ahead."
Having a higher score, greater success, or a more advanced position than a competitor.
"Our candidate was slightly ahead in the early polling results."
Word Nuance & Usage
When used as an adjective, 'ahead' is strictly postpositive or predicative; it is placed after a linking verb or directly after the noun it modifies (e.g., 'the road ahead') and is never placed before a noun.
• Rhymes for ahead
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in Middle English as a contraction of the phrase 'on head', combining the Old English preposition 'a-' (meaning 'on' or 'toward') with 'heafod' ('head'), originally used in nautical contexts to mean moving forward in the direction of a ship's bow.