preemptively

or pre-emp·tive·ly

[ pree-emp-tiv-lee ]

adverb

1. before or in preference to other buyers, claimants, candidates, etc.:

   TriStar has preemptively purchased the movie rights to Williams’ new novel, the sequel to her debut bestseller.

2. as a measure taken against something anticipated or feared; preventively:

   Knowing I’d be practicing piano for hours every day, I preemptively left polite notes for the upstairs and downstairs neighbors—with cookies attached—apologizing for the noise.

3. Bridge. (said of bidding) at an unnecessarily high level, as a defensive maneuver to make communication between one’s opponents more difficult:

   The more tricks you are certain of winning, given your hand, the higher the level at which you can bid preemptively.

Word History and Origins

Origin of preemptively¹

preemptive ( def ) + -ly

Example Sentences

Republicans have filed dozens of lawsuits to preemptively challenge the Nov. 5 election if Trump loses.

From Los Angeles Times

Not unlike 2020, Trump and his allies are preemptively making outlandish and extreme assertions to lay the groundwork for a claim, if they don’t prevail, that the election was stolen.

From Salon

If she had been informed ahead of time, Pleasant said she could have preemptively closed for the day or set up a pop-up tent with a special menu.

From Los Angeles Times

"With our model, a computer could preemptively predict user distress and attempt to mitigate negative emotions," Jokinen suggests.

From Science Daily

But at this point in the Age of Trump it seems that too many Americans have preemptively surrendered.

From Salon