Dictionary

prefer en · VERB

Pronunciation

• [pɹɪˈfəː] (Australia, British, Southern, Standard)
• [pɹɪˈfəɹ] (dialectal)
• [pɹɪˈfɛr] (Scotland)
• [pɹɪˈfeːɹ] (dialectal)
• (US) audio
• [pɹɪˈfɛː] Humberside, Teesside, fair–fur merger
• [pɹɪˈfɝ] (General-American)
• [pɹɪˈføː] (New-Zealand)
• (Southern-England) audio
• [pɹɪˈfɜː(ɹ)] Lancashire, fair–fur merger
• [pɹɪˈfɜː] (Received-Pronunciation)
• [pɹɪˈfɚ(ɹ)] (Canada)
• [pɹɪˈfeː] Liverpool, fair–fur merger

Etymology

From Middle English preferren, from Anglo-Norman preferer, from Latin praeferō. Displaced native Old English foresettan and foreberan. Doublet of prelate. See also infer, relate and refer, delate and defer, as well as collate and confer among others.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To be in the habit of choosing something rather than something else; to favor; to like better.
   • I'd prefer to stay home rather than drive/driving in the blizzard.
   • I prefer tea to coffee.
   • You that will be leſſe fearefull, then diſcreet, That loue the fundamentall part of State More then you doubt the change on’t: That preferre A Noble life, before a Long,[…] c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 15, column 2:
   • I'd prefer it if you didn't do it.
   • You don’t attack politicians because you prefer them; you attack them because you’re scared of them. 2019 February 26, James Graham, Adam Johnson, “The Return of the Inexplicable Republican Best Friend”, in FAIR.org:
   • "My tastes," he said, still smiling, "incline me to the garishly sunlit side of this planet." And, to tease her and arouse her to combat: "I prefer a farandole to a nocturne; I'd rather have a painting than an etching; Mr. Whistler bores me with his monochromatic mud; I don't like dull colours, dull sounds, dull intellects;[…]." 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
   • Similar, if milder, versions of the same are reported in some (but not all) studies of humans, ranging from the Wellesley effect, discussed in the introduction, to heterosexual women preferring the smell of high-testosterone men. 2017, Robert Sapolsky, Behave, Penguin, →ISBN:
   • The February kid he should retain, also the full-grown goat; the goatling he should sell, also its kid, unless he prefers using it for the table. Thus he has not only a good supply of milk, but he has an early kid ready for next year, […] 1907, The Quarterly Review, volume 207, page 119:
2. (dated, transitive) To advance, promote (someone or something).
   • 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. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 318, column 2:
   • 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), THE Pleaſant, and Surprizing ADVENTURES OF Mr. Robert Drury, DURING HIS Fifteen Years CAPTIVITY on the Iſland OF MADAGASCAR, London, published 1743, →OCLC, page 67:
   • And the maiden pleaſed him, and ſhe obtained kindneſſe of him,[…], and hee preferred her and her maids, vnto the beſt place of the houſe of the women. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Esther 2:9, column 2:
   • Tiberius preferred many to honours in his time, because they were famous whoremasters and sturdy drinkers[…]. 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 3, member 2:
3. (transitive) To present or submit (something) to an authority (now usually in "to prefer charges").
   • […], let him go, And preſently preferre his ſuite to Cæſar. 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 118, column 2:
   • At length the Maroons, who were delighted to have him with them, became diſ­con­tent­ed with his abſence, and for ſeveral years, during the ſeſſions of the Houſe of Aſſembly, preferred repeated complaints againſt him. 1803, Dallas, Robert Charles (author), The History of the Maroons, volume 1, London: Longman and Rees, published 1803, →OCLC, Letter 5, page 137:
4. (obsolete, transitive) To put forward for acceptance; to introduce, recommend (to).
   • 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, chapter 1, in The True Travels, Adventures, and Observations of Captaine Iohn Smith, London: Thomas Slater, page 2:
   • Such were the arguments which my will boldly preferred to my conscience, as coin which ought to be current; and which conscience, like a grumbling shopkeeper, was contented to accept,[…]. 1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter IV, in Rob Roy. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 68:

Forms

Antonyms

disprefer

Deriveds

preferist · preferee · preferability

Relateds

preferred stock · prelate · preferrable · preferer · preferendum · preferential · preferred stockholder · preferable · preferred provider · preference · preferrer · preferred creditor · nonpreferred · unpreferred · preferment

Synonyms

ennoble · promote · uplift · aggrandize · honor · raise · dignify · fain · favor · elevate · raise · exalt · forechoose · prefer · nobilitate · elevate · uplift · advance

Translations (95)

tr tercih etmek (to favor) · ko 더 좋아하다 (to favor) · la māvolō (to favor) · ang foresettan (to favor) · az üstün tutmaq (to favor) · ja …の方が好きである (to favor) · cs dát přednost (to favor) · ka უპირატესობის მინიჭება (to favor) · fr préférer (to favor) · uk віддава́ти перева́гу (to favor) · ht pito (to favor) · mi mariu (to favor) · ang foreberan (to favor) · pt preferir (to favor) · sv föredraga (to favor) · ga is fearr le (to favor) · km ចូលចិត្ត (to favor) · ln kopono (to favor) · bo འདོད་པ་ (to favor) · ar فَضَّلَ (to favor) · nl prefereren (to favor) · mk претпо́чита (to favor) · es preferir (to favor) · hu előnyben részesít (to favor) · la antehabeō (to favor) · hu jobban szeret/tetszik (to favor) · tl mas gusto kumikiling (to favor) · cy bod yn well gan (to favor) · alt артыксынар (to favor) · gv share lesh (to favor) · nl verkiezen (boven) (to favor) · ca estimar-se més (to favor) · be адда́ць перева́гу (to favor) · nl (de) voorkeur geven (to favor) · eu nahiago izan (to favor) · el προτιμάω (to favor) · hy գերադասել (to favor) · ja …の方を好む (to favor) · de bevorzugen (to favor) · ru предпочита́ть (to favor) · mk префери́ра (to favor) · be аддава́ць перева́гу (to favor) · th ชอบ ~ มากกว่า (to favor) · bg предпочи́там (to favor) · eu nahitu (to favor) · ko 선호(選好)하다 (to favor) · et eelistama (to favor) · ne चुन्नु (to favor) · fi pitää parempana (to favor) · hy նախընտրել (to favor) · cs upřednostňovat (to favor) · hu szívesebben (tesz) (to favor) · pl woleć (to favor) · de präferieren (to favor) · tr yeğlemek (to favor) · grc προτιμάω (to favor) · nb foretrekke (to favor) · la addīcō (to favor) · ar آثَرَ (to favor) · ms lebih suka (to favor) · lo ສະເພາະ (to favor) · ln pono (to favor) · grc προκρίνω (to favor) · cs preferovat (to favor) · qu allikachiy (to favor) · de vorziehen (to favor) · la mālō (to favor) · eo pliŝati (to favor) · kw bos gwell gans (to favor) · nrf préféther (to favor) · fa برگزیدن (to favor) · haw makemake (to favor) · ru предпоче́сть (to favor) · hi पसंद करना (to favor) · ca preferir (to favor) · az tərcih etmək (to favor) · eo preferi (to favor) · cmn 比較喜歡 /比较喜欢 (to favor) · fa ترجیح دادن (to favor) · sv föredra (to favor) · da foretrække (to favor) · mn эрхэмлэх (to favor) · es anteponer (to favor) · it favorire (to favor) · sq preferon (to favor) · ka მჯობინება (to favor) · it preferire (to favor) · sh preferirati (to favor) · ota بگنمك (to favor) · he הֶעֱדִיף (to favor) · vi thích hơn (to favor) · grc προαιρέω (to favor) · ro prefera (to favor) · mfe prefere (to favor) · yi פּרעפֿערירן (to favor)