preparatory

Language: en

🇺🇸 /prɪˈpɛrəˌtɔriː/

📖 Definitions

  1. adjective
    Serving as or carrying out preparation for a task or undertaking; preliminary.; Relating to or constituting a school that prepares students for higher education, especially a private secondary school.

🔗 Details

Word forms

Collocations

preparatory schoolpreparatory workpreparatory stagepreparatory phasepreparatory topreparatory stepspreparatory meeting

Derivatives

preparepreparationpreparativepreparedpreparednesspreparatively

Synonyms

preliminaryintroductoryinitialprecursorypreparative

Antonyms

concludingfinal

Commonly confused

preliminary
EN: 'Preliminary' is broader and more common, referring to anything that comes before the main event; 'preparatory' specifically implies active preparation or readiness for what follows.
preparative
EN: 'Preparative' is a rarer, more formal synonym that can also function as a noun meaning 'a preparatory measure'; 'preparatory' is strictly an adjective.

Spelling tips

EN: Remember the 'a' before '-tory': 'prepar-a-tory', not 'preparitory' or 'prepatory'. The root is 'prepare' → 'preparatory'.

💬 Examples

  1. The students attended a preparatory course before entering university.

  2. She graduated from a prestigious preparatory school in New England.