advanced

/ədˈvænst/

/ædˈvɑnst/

Use the adjective advanced to describe something that's ahead, especially in terms of growth or development. Your plans to build the world's best tree house are at an advanced stage if you're nearly ready to add a roof and invite your friends to visit.

Things are advanced when they happen early or are ahead of the curve or above average. Your advanced reading ability in elementary school might have had your teachers scrambling to keep you interested, and if a scientist's cancer vaccine is at an advanced stage, it's nearly ready to be tested on people. Advanced comes from the verb advance, which comes from the Old French avancier, "move forward," from a Late Latin root word, abante, "from before."

Definitions of advanced

1. adjective

   situated ahead or going before
   “at that time the most advanced outpost was still east of the Rockies”

   synonyms: advance, in advance

   front

   relating to or located in the front
2. adjective

   ahead in development; complex or intricate
   “advanced technology”

   synonyms: sophisticated

   hi-tech, high-tech

   resembling or making use of highly advanced technology or devices
3. adjective

   farther along in physical or mental development
   “the child's skeletal age was classified as `advanced'”

   “children in the advanced classes in elementary school read far above grade average”

   synonyms:

   precocious

   characterized by or characteristic of exceptionally early development or maturity (especially in mental aptitude)
4. adjective

   comparatively late in a course of development
   “the illness had reached an advanced stage”

   “an advanced state of exhaustion”

   synonyms:

   late, later

   at or toward an end or late period or stage of development
5. adjective

   at a higher level in training or knowledge or skill
   “an advanced degree”

   “an advanced text in physics”

   “special seminars for small groups of advanced students at the University”

   synonyms:

   high

   greater than normal in degree or intensity or amount
6. adjective

   (of societies) highly developed especially in technology or industry
   “advanced societies”

   “an advanced country technologically”

   synonyms:

   civilised, civilized

   having a high state of culture and development both social and technological
7. adjective

   far along in time
   “a man of advanced age”

   “advanced in years”

   synonyms: ripe

   late

   being or occurring at an advanced period of time or after a usual or expected time
8. adjective

   ahead of the times
   “the advanced teaching methods”

   “had advanced views on the subject”

   synonyms: forward-looking, innovative, modern

   progressive

   favoring or promoting progress