sooner

1 of 2

noun

soon·​er ˈsü-nər How to pronounce sooner (audio)
plural sooners
1
: a person settling on land in the early West before its official opening to settlement in order to gain the prior claim allowed by law to the first settler after official opening
2
Sooner plural Sooners : a native or resident of Oklahoma
used as a nickname

sooner

2 of 2

comparative of soon

Examples of sooner in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Guyton is a former defensive end who primarily played right tackle for the Sooners, but has the prototypical size (6-8, 322) and premium athletic traits to switch to the left side in the pros. Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Mar. 2024 Guyton played right tackle for the Sooners, but has the prototypical size and premium athletic traits to switch to the left side in the pros. Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Feb. 2024 With the conference being so tough this season — eight Big 12 teams are in the Top 25 — the Sooners couldn’t afford to slip at home against an unranked team. Cliff Brunt, USA TODAY, 18 Jan. 2024 Guyton has played right tackle for the Sooners, but has the prototypical size and premium athletic traits to switch to the left side in the pros. Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Dec. 2023 The team honored Oklahoma native and diehard Sooners’ fan, country crooner Toby Keith, by setting up a guitar with a red solo cup in the seat next to athletic director Joe Castiglione. Keith, who grew up in nearby Moore, lost his battle with cancer on Monday at the age of 62. Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 8 Feb. 2024 The Sooners are coming off their first losing season since 1998, the season before Stoops took over. Stefan Stevenson, Dallas News, 6 Sep. 2023 The Sooners are followed by emerging power California (197.533). Tom Murphy, arkansasonline.com, 23 Jan. 2024 Oklahoma: The Alamo Bowl loss (to Arizona) provided a preview of what to expect from the Sooners next season and, well, we were underwhelmed. Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 9 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sooner.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

sooner, comparative of soon

First Known Use

Noun

1890, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of sooner was in 1890

Dictionary Entries Near sooner

Cite this Entry

“Sooner.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sooner. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

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