sooner rather than later

adverb

In the fairly near future; fairly soon.

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Meanings

adverbsooner rather than later (comparative form only)

alternative sooner than later

  1. comparative onlyIn the fairly near future; fairly soon.

    The response rate is probably higher when treatment is applied sooner rather than later after diagnosis and to children with VSAA rather than AA.

    2017, Robert Wynn, Rukhmi Bhat, Paul Monagle, Pediatric Hematology: A Practical Guide, page 66
    2 more examples

    I believe that therapists need to be proactive rather than laissez faire in addressing problems— if not immediately, then sooner rather than later.

    1994, Harold S. Bernard, K. Roy MacKenzie, Basics of Group Psychotherapy, page 156

    Their present policy of sterilizing monetary inflows is creating imbalances which suggests, sooner rather than later, they're going to have to, for stability purposes, move their currency.

    2006, B. Brown, What Drives Global Capital Flows?, page 174

Translations

Spanish más pronto que tarde
  • más pronto que tardeTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

sooner rather than later. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sooner%20rather%20than%20later

MLA

“sooner rather than later.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sooner%20rather%20than%20later. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sooner rather than later,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sooner%20rather%20than%20later.

Source: sooner rather than later on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.