Did you know?
Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word
prefer
- definition
What are red words?
90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing.These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are morefrequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.
Thesaurus
The thesaurus of synonyms and related words is fully integrated into the dictionary entries. Click on the T button in an entry to review the synonyms and related words for that meaning.
more
/prɪˈfɜr/ 
| present tense | |
| I/you/we/they | prefer |
| he/she/it | prefers |
| present participle | preferring |
| past tense | preferred |
| past participle | preferred |
- [never progressive] to like or want someone or something more than someone or something else
Which do you prefer, the red or the blue one?
prefer someone/something to someone/something:Even today, most Americans prefer coffee to tea.
prefer to do something:Do you prefer to exercise indoors or outdoors?
prefer doing something:I prefer working on my own.
prefer something (to be) something:I prefer my curry a little spicier.
would prefer (that):I’d prefer that the job were a little closer to my home.
someone would prefer it if:The doctor would prefer it if you could come a little earlier.
phrases
This is the American English definition of prefer. View British English definition of prefer.
Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to British English.
showmance
a romantic relationship between two members of the cast of a play, film or television series
BuzzWord ArticleMore BuzzWords
BuzzWord archive
More submissions
view entriesBlog
A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.
global English and language change from our blog