earliest

ear·li·est
E1A1R1L1I1E1S1T1
US/ˈɝ.li.ɪst/UK/ˈɜː.li.ɪst/

A form of early — At a time in advance of the usual or expected event.

Similar
earlierearlysoonest
CommonScrabble 8
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Meanings

adjective
  1. superlativesuperlative form of early: most early

    The earliest I can get there is Monday, at around midday at the earliest.

    1 more example

    One of the earliest (and biggest) space weather events on record occurred in September 1859, when a massive solar eruption crashed into the Earth's magnetosphere, triggering a geomagnetic storm that lasted for days.

    2023 November 15, Prof. Jim Wild, “This train was delayed because of bad weather in space”, in RAIL, number 996, page 30
adverb
  1. superlativesuperlative form of early: most early

Synonyms & antonyms

adjective(comparative and superlative of ‘early’) more early than; most early

Similar
earlierearly

adverbwith the least delay

Similar
soonest
Also see
aboriginalearlierinitialprimeprimitivesoonest

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Aleister
Cite this entry
APA

earliest. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/earliest

MLA

“earliest.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/earliest. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “earliest,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/earliest.

Source: earliest on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.