Prefer and Return

Prefer

Prefer verb - To show partiality toward.

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Return and prefer are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Return" instead a verb "Prefer".

Return verb - To bring, send, or put back to a former or proper place.

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Prefer and return are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Prefer" instead a verb "Return".

Nearby Words: returned, returning, returnable, returnee, returner

life	prefer life	return life
people	prefer people	return people
stuff	prefer stuff	return stuff
someone	prefer someone	return someone
Other words: series, death, time, way, world, money, sword.

Can also alternate between this trope and a Bittersweet Ending both for said reason and as Nightmare said in the Japanese version that he would return As Long as There Is Evil, and if this show was meant to be a prequel to the games (like many people prefer to believe) he wasn't lying .

Source: Anime / Kirby: Right Back at Ya! aka: Kirby Of The Stars
Cloud of Darkness would prefer instead to return all to the Void.

Source: Lampshade Hanging / Video Games
A less-cracky example are the fans who ship Mami and Kyouko, who prefer to make Kyouko's more common shipping partner Sayaka totally straight and still in love with her canonically unrequited crush, Kyousuke (who may or may not return the affection, depending on the fanwork).

Source: Ship Mates

Cite this Source

Return and Prefer. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 07, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/prefer/return

Prefer & Return. N.p., 2016. Web. 07 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/prefer/return>.

Return or Prefer. 2016. Accessed August 07, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/prefer/return.

Google Ngram Viewer shows how "prefer" and "return" have occurred on timeline