DictionaryAI

prefer

verb
Saypri-FUR/pɹɪˈfɝ/UK/pɹɪˈfɜː/

Formsprefers, preferring, preferred

4 meanings of prefer

Practice

  1. 1
    like betterverbtransitive
    To choose or like one thing more than another, usually as a matter of habit.

    Many travelers prefer trains over planes for short journeys.

    He preferred the older edition for its detailed footnotes.

    UsagePrefer one thing to (or over) another (not incorrect: prefer tea than coffee). With verbs: would prefer to stay rather than go.

    Similarfavor, choose, pick, select

    Note

    Today the thing passed over follows to or over, as in prefer tea to coffee, and with verbs the pattern is would prefer to stay rather than go. Shakespeare's Coriolanus, written about 1608 to 1609, uses before instead: "preferre A Noble life, before a Long."

  2. 2
    submit formallyverbtransitive
    To formally present or submit something, such as charges, to an authority for consideration.

    The prosecutor chose to prefer charges after reviewing the evidence.

    The district attorney said she would prefer fraud charges against both company directors.

    UsageMost often in prefer charges against someone; to marks the authority that receives them.

    Similarbring, file, lodge, press, submit

    Oppositedrop, withdraw

    Note

    A formal, procedural verb that now survives mostly in one phrase: to prefer charges against someone. Earlier writers let it carry any formal request. Shakespeare's Julius Caesar has a suit preferred to Caesar, and Robert Charles Dallas's The History of the Maroons (1803) has complaints preferred against a man during sessions of the House of Assembly.

  3. 3
    promoteverbdatedtransitive
    To advance or promote someone to a higher position or office.
    For this Reaſon, I preſume, it was, that ſhe took ſo much Compaſſion upon me ; conſidering herſelf a Slave in a ſtrange Country, and on­ly preferr’d to my Maſter’s Bed by Courteſy.
    1743, Drury, Robert (sailor; author)
    So ſhall you haue a ſhorter iourney to your deſires, by the meanes I ſhall then haue to preferre them. And the impediment moſt profitably remoued, without the which there were no expectation of our proſperitie.
    c. 1603, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”

    Similarpromote, advance, elevate, raise

    Oppositedemote

    Note

    A word of patronage that was once at home in church and court, where patrons raised clients to benefices and appointments. Fittingly, it is a doublet of prelate. The person advanced is the object, and to or unto marks the place reached. The King James Bible of 1611 says "hee preferred her and her maids, vnto the beſt place." Read such lines with care, because modern ears hear the "like better" meaning where the older text means promotion.

    Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

    • Prefer was used for advancement through patronage to church benefices. en.wikisource.org
    • Prefer was also used for advancement in a royal court. en.wiktionary.org
    • Prefer and prelate are etymological doublets. en.wiktionary.org
    • The person advanced can be the object, with to or unto introducing the position or place reached. en.wiktionary.org
    • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. en.wikipedia.org
    • The quoted wording occurs in Esther 2:9, describing advancement to better accommodation. en.wikisource.org

Less common meaning

  1. 4
    verbobsoletetransitive
    To put someone or something forward for acceptance; to introduce or recommend them to someone.
    one Master David Hume, who making some use of his purse, gave him Letters to his friends in Scotland to preferre him to King Iames.
    1630, John Smith, The True Travels
    Note

    Recommendation rather than promotion: in John Smith's The True Travels (1630), letters to friends in Scotland are meant to prefer him to King James. That makes it close kin to the "promote" meaning, but it stops at the introduction. Walter Scott's Rob Roy (1817) uses it for arguments preferred to conscience "as coin which ought to be current". The sense is obsolete, and modern readers will hear "like better" instead.

    Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

    • John Smith wrote The True Travels, published in 1630. history.hanover.edu
    • Smith's text describes letters to friends in Scotland intended to recommend Smith to King James. history.hanover.edu
    • The illustrated sense means introducing or recommending someone, without itself asserting a promotion. en.wiktionary.org
    • Walter Scott wrote Rob Roy, first published in 1817 despite its 1818 title-page date. en.wikipedia.org
    • Rob Roy contains the quoted comparison of arguments submitted to conscience with current coin; the passage belongs to Frank Osbaldistone's narration. gutenberg.org

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of prefer apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From Middle English "preferren," from Anglo-Norman "preferer," from Latin "praeferō." It displaced the native Old English words "foresettan" and "foreberan," and is a doublet of "prelate."

Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 5 facts