Synonyms for primary
- adjective
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Principal — main; principal; chief; placed ahead of others
principal, main, original, chief, first, master, prime, important, initial, leading, foremost, primitive, capital, primordial, primal, autochthonous, sovereign, pristine, aboriginal, primeval, underived rare
2. Elementary
elementary, basic, fundamental, elemental, basal, rudimental
Other
direct, first-hand, special, preparatory, idiopathic, seminal, agnogenic rare
Definitions
- adj. 1
Main; principal; chief; placed ahead of others.
- adj. 2
First or earliest in a group or series.
Children attend primary school, and teenagers attend secondary school.
Related words
Choose the right word
Prime and primary may signify either first in time, or more frequently first in importance; primary has also the sense of elementary or preparatory; we speak of a prime minister, a primary school.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- main What is the main purpose of your studying English?
- chief High tariffs are the chief obstacles to free trade.
- prime Cicadas only emerge after a prime number of years.
- principal The principal called the teachers into his office.
- basic That game is easy, once you learn the basic rules.
- elementary When I was in elementary school, I read this book.
By length
- 4 letters
- main1
- 5 letters
- first1, chief1, basic2, prime1, basal2
- 6 letters
- master2, direct2, primal2
- 7 letters
- special2, leading2, capital3, initial3, seminal3
- 8 letters
- original4, foremost2, pristine2, primeval3
- 9 letters
- important3, principal3, sovereign2, primitive3, elemental4, underived, agnogenic
- 10 letters
- elementary4, aboriginal5, primordial4, idiopathic5, rudimental
- 11 letters
- fundamental4, preparatory5
- 13 letters
- autochthonous
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (basic2 = 2 syllables).