Meaning & use

prematurely

adverb·Academic

Happening, arriving, or done before the proper, expected, or natural time.

See it in a sentence

The baby was born prematurely, so doctors kept her in the hospital for observation.

Don't celebrate prematurely; the results won't be official until next week.

A note on using this word

Prematurely commonly pairs with verbs like "born," "ended," or "celebrate," emphasizing that something happened before its natural time.

Words with a similar meaning

too earlyuntimely

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

Words with an opposite meaning

belatedly

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “prematurely”, then compare your use with the examples above.

Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.