preferential

C1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˌpref.ɚˈen.ʃəl/ UK /ˌpref.ərˈen.ʃəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #37017

Meanings

1

adj
giving or receiving an advantage, priority, or more favorable treatment than others

The agreement gave local suppliers preferential access to government contracts.
2

adj
relating to an electoral system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference

Under preferential voting, citizens numbered the candidates from first choice to last.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · giving or receiving an... favored priority advantageous

2 adj · relating to an electoral... ranked-choicepreference-based

More discriminatory

Opposites

equal impartialnonpreferential

Word family

Forms preferentially

Derived forms preferentiallypreferentialitynonpreferential

Related forms preference prefer priority favoritism

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

preferential shop
a workplace that favors union members in hiring or promotion

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Medieval Latin preferentia ("preference") + -al, or directly from preference + -ial. Preference derives from Latin praeferre ("to carry or set before, prefer"), from prae- ("before") + ferre ("to carry").

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# preferential

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˌpref.ɚˈen.ʃəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˌpref.ərˈen.ʃəl/
**Frequency rank:** 37017

## Meanings
1. giving or receiving an advantage, priority, or more favorable treatment than others
2. relating to an electoral system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference

## Examples
- The agreement gave local suppliers preferential access to government contracts.
- Under preferential voting, citizens numbered the candidates from first choice to last.

## Synonyms
- favored
- priority
- advantageous
- discriminatory

## Antonyms
- equal
- impartial
- nonpreferential

## Derived Forms
- preferentially
- preferentiality
- nonpreferential

## Related Forms
- preference
- prefer
- priority
- favoritism

## Etymology
From Medieval Latin preferentia ("preference") + -al, or directly from preference + -ial. Preference derives from Latin praeferre ("to carry or set before, prefer"), from prae- ("before") + ferre ("to carry").

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

markdown