ahead of (one's)/its time

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Related to ahead of its time: time and again, time being

ahead of (one's)/its time

More advanced or innovative than is or was typical in a particular era. That 19th-century scientist was definitely ahead of his time with his detailed plan of space travel. I can't believe that movie is from the 1950s—it's so progressive and way ahead of its time.

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ahead of time

Earlier than a given deadline. If we get to the theater ahead of time, we'll have our pick of good seats. My term paper isn't due until next week, but I finished it ahead of time.

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*ahead of one's time

Fig. having ideas or attitudes that are too advanced to be acceptable in the present. (*Typically: be ~; think ~.) Sue's grandmother was ahead of her time in wanting to study medicine.

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*ahead of time

beforehand; before the announced time. (*Typically: arrive ~; get there ~; leave ~; show up ~.) If you show up ahead of time, you will have to wait. Be there ahead of time if you want to get a good seat.

See also: ahead, of, time

ahead of one's time

In advance of current ideas, customs, or methods, as in His treatment of light showed this painter to be well ahead of his time, or Wearing trousers and smoking cigars marked Amy Lowell as a woman ahead of her time. This idiom uses time in the sense of "era" or "generation," a usage at least a thousand years old. The phrase is usually but not always used to express approval. [First half of 1900s]

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ahead of time

Earlier, sooner, as in The meeting was scheduled for three o'clock, but most people arrived ahead of time. [Early 1900s]

See also: ahead, of, time

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ahead of your (or its) time

innovative and radical by the standards of the time.

See also: ahead, of, time

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

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References in periodicals archive ?

Messier related how that vision was ahead of its time but stymied by the difficult global economic conditions following September 11.

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In 1965, Donald Judd proclaimed Lee Bontecou "one of the best artists working anywhere." The sole woman in the early-'60s Castelli stable, Bontecou creatively bridged masculine and feminine, human and machine in her sculpture and drawing, exploring a kind of abstract cyborgian androgyny years ahead of its time. But by 1975, she dropped out, barely exhibiting since (though making new work all along) and refusing cooperation when others tried surveying her past.

Lee Bontecou

Jell-O was actually invented in 1897; in look, feel and convenience it was way ahead of its time. It has been used as the basis for art projects: paint, finger paint, play dough, sand art, dioramas and sculpture.

Wyman, Carolyn. Jell-O; a biography

From the outset Warp was different, partly due to its location, far from the style-conscious London scene, and partly due to its championing of music which was, and in some cases still is, ahead of its time. Warp was inspired by the early acid and techno sounds of Detroit and maybe the

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REGARDING the reader who wrote about our new Parliament building being ahead of its time and 'will be admired by tourists'.

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Brooklyn is kind of ahead of its time and the smart money is realizing it."

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"I think people think we did a gay show because it was so ahead of its time. Everybody was following it."

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"Back then, an MLS was really an idea that was ahead of its time. The business was going well, and the brokers were reluctant to share information that was the source of their income.

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In every age a talent emerges that's so far ahead of its time, it can't be fully appreciated.