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View synonyms for preparatory

preparatory

[ pri-par-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee, -pair-, prep-er-uh- ]

adjective

  1. serving or designed to prepare:

    preparatory arrangements.

  2. preliminary; introductory:

    preparatory remarks.

  3. of or relating to training that prepares for more advanced education.


preparatory

/ -trɪ; prɪˈpærətərɪ /

adjective

  1. serving to prepare
  2. introductory or preliminary
  3. occupied in preparation
  4. preparatory to
    preparatory to as a preparation to; before

    a drink preparatory to eating



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Derived Forms

  • preˈparatorily, adverb

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Other Words From

  • pre·para·tori·ly adverb
  • nonpre·para·tory adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of preparatory1

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English word from Medieval Latin word praeparātōrius. See prepare, -tory 1

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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. preparatory to, in advance of; before:

    The astronauts met with the press preparatory to lifting off.

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Example Sentences

The missive arrived at an Orlando-area preparatory school in October 2019, outlining a damaging allegation against a music teacher there.

For example, at age 10, he completed the local two-year mandatory preparatory program in just one year.

He went to public school until the 7th grade, and then attended Flintridge Preparatory School in La Cañada Flintridge, California.

Moreover, a preparatory nap counteracts the effects of sleep deprivation better than a nap taken after the missed sleep.

It is exhibited at the Tate along with the mass of preparatory material he used to create it.

After preparatory school in Illinois, Hay went to Brown University, where he amused men and charmed women.

There were very few preparatory arrangements to be made for the marriage of Mr. Snodgrass.

Not, indeed, until the foreigner's foot was on the step preparatory to mounting did Garnache speak.

She saw two fiery eyes; she saw the tiger gather himself preparatory to springing.

The poorest people reduce it to powder by manual labour, in the same way as they grind corn preparatory to baking it into cakes.

By the time he passed out of the preparatory classes, his ideal faith in the order of things was shaken.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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preparatorpreparatory school