Single word for 'being one step ahead of others'

Question

I am looking for synonyms as single words having the meaning of 'being one step ahead of others'.

lead·ing adj. 1. Having a position in the lead; foremost: the leading candidate. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/leading — Kris, Jun 07 '14 at 07:20
The "game" of "being one step ahead of others" is called one-upmanship. You buy a Cadillac, so I buy a Mercedes; you buy a Bentley, so I buy a Mazzeratti (the one priced at a million dollars!), etc. — rhetorician, Jun 07 '14 at 17:35
It's not clear what meaning you are looking for. Literally one step ahead, as in walking/running? One step ahead in a process? Or simply being more advanced in a quantitative way? — congusbongus, May 01 '15 at 01:22

brasshat · Answer 1 · 2014-06-09T12:33:27.117

3

"Innovator" (or "innovative"), "pioneering", "scout", "trailblazer", "vanguard", or "visionary", depending upon usage.

edited Jun 09 '14 at 12:33

answered Jun 07 '14 at 05:53

brasshat

4,329

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 07 '14 at 12:39

Pacesetter is a common term for someone who is in the position you describe.

pace·set·ter noun \ˈpās-ˌse-tər\ : a person who runs ahead of the other runners in a race in order to set a pace

as in, a company that has been a pacesetter in its field for offering health care benefits to employees

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pacesetter

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 09 '14 at 14:38

1

One such description is frontrunner — or frontrunning, if you prefer the adjectival form.

edited Jun 09 '14 at 14:38

tchrist

134,759

answered Jun 09 '14 at 14:11

Tom Au

11,056

Per http://meta.english.stackexchange.com/a/364 for the use–mention distinction, please use an italic face not a bold one. It makes the page look too heavy otherwise, and furthermore runs counter to typographic convention both on this site and in scholarly works. – tchrist Jun 09 '14 at 14:39
@tchrist sorry but I smiled :) (not in a bad way!) – red-o-alf Jun 30 '16 at 15:25

score 1 · Answer 4 · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

1

You could say be a notch above the others and be superior (to others).

notch above (someone or something) and a notch better (than someone or something): a little higher in quality than someone or something

superior: of high or higher quality; great or greater in amount, number, or degree; better than other people

be one step ahead : to be slightly better prepared or more successful than someone else (usually + of) Source

edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

Community

1

answered Jun 09 '14 at 19:56

Elian

43,007

similar, a cut above. – red-o-alf Jun 30 '16 at 15:26

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 07 '14 at 06:29

Advanced suggests the meaning you are looking for:

being at a higher level than others.

I also suggest the useful expression: to be a cut above something or somebody:

to be better than other things or people: he is so smart that he is always a cut above all his friends. Our new luxury apartments are a cut above the rest.

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 08 '14 at 04:43

Also consider the phrase early adopter, which means:

A person who begins using a product or service at or around the time it becomes available.

The phrase early adopter sometimes is used to describe people who are ahead of the curve. Ahead of the curve is an idiom for “Changing before competitors” or “in the forefront of change”.

Another related phrase is “on the bleeding edge”, which means using “Something very current or modern, where there may actually be a hazard or risk in using it”.

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Apr 30 '15 at 21:20

0

Greed. People who have to be ahead of others have an inadequate personal self concept and are not content just being themselves--so they greddily seek more attention from others

answered Apr 30 '15 at 21:20

Phil D

1

1

This is reading way too much into the situation compared to what the question is actually asking.... – Hellion Apr 30 '15 at 21:51

score 0 · Answer 8 · edited May 01 '15 at 06:29

0

Prescient is what came to my mind immediately.

From oxford:

Having or showing knowledge of events before they take place: a prescient warning

edited May 01 '15 at 06:29

Tushar Raj

21,025

answered May 01 '15 at 00:42

Tapioca

11

1

Hi Tapioca, that's a great word! Can you provide a dictionary definition for that to assist the OP and other users of this site? – Erich May 01 '15 at 00:47

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Apr 22 '23 at 17:44

I think the word perspicacious is a good fit.

: of acute mental vision or discernment : KEEN

As some of the nation’s most perspicacious observers have noted, self-regulation is a crucial component of fixing what’s wrong with social media. —Gilad Edelman, Wired, 30 Sep. 2021

Other words that might highlight the sense of relative farsightedness (including the word farsighted itself) are:

Sagacious

: of keen and farsighted penetration and judgment

… the winner is praised for his sagacious grasp of the hopes and anxieties of the public, the loser is excoriated for the many and obvious blunders that derailed his candidacy … —Hendrik Hertzberg, New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2000

I think the example sentence above wonderfully encapsulates the idea of being a step ahead of one’s competitors, too.

Farsighted

: having or showing foresight or good judgment : SAGACIOUS a farsighted leader

Single word for 'being one step ahead of others'

9 Answers9

Linked

Related