Earliest and Previous

Earliest

Earliest adjective - Coming before all others in time or order.
Usage example: the earliest computers were massive machines that practically filled up a room

Previous and earliest are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Previous" instead an adjective "Earliest".

Previous

Previous adjective - Going before another in time or order.
Usage example: the previous math problem also included a reference to store discounts

Earliest and previous are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Earliest" instead an adjective "Previous".

Nearby Word: previously

Both words in one sentence

  • Identity Amnesia His earliest memory is of the horribly painful ritual that gave him the ability to phase through objects and erased his previous memories.
  • In the earliest games, a sound bite from one of the developers' previous games, The Vampire Diaries, was included but not used in the game.
  • Film / Skull Island Kaiju: Definitely, as Kong himself is one of the earliest examples in the genre but, as stated above, he's much bigger than any previous American incarnation.
Cite this Source
Previous and Earliest. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 22, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/earliest/previous
Earliest & Previous. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/earliest/previous>.
Previous or Earliest. 2016. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/earliest/previous.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "earliest" and "previous" have occurred on timeline