Meaning & use

anterior

adjective·Advanced

Situated at or toward the front of something, or occurring earlier in time or sequence.

See it in a sentence

The anterior part of the skull protects the front of the brain.

In the manuscript, the anterior chapters set up ideas explored later in the book.

A note on using this word

Anterior is mainly used in anatomy and formal writing; its opposite is posterior.

Words with a similar meaning

frontforward

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

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