as in nascent
beginning to come into existence
I have an incipient dislike and distrust of that guy, and I only met him this morning
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Recent Examples of incipient
Leaders in those countries remember the havoc wreaked by an incipient Islamic Republic that sought to shore up its revolutionary enterprise through acts of terror.
—
Suzanne Maloney, Foreign Affairs, 6 Aug. 2025
Jennifer Grey saw her incipient stardom go up in smoke after two rhinoplasties, undertaken in the early 1990s at the urging of her mother, left her unrecognizable to people who’d known her since childhood.
—Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 30 July 2025
On one hand, part of their appreciation for warning sirens lies in the noble purpose of preventing harm in the face of incipient natural disasters.
—Claudia Levens, jsonline.com, 25 July 2025
Miss Lonelyhearts—who is actually a man—is an advice columnist receiving letters from people who are impoverished, in despair, and surrounded by an atmosphere of moral depravity and incipient fascism.
—The New Yorker, New Yorker, 16 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for incipient
Suzanne Maloney, Foreign Affairs, 6 Aug. 2025
Jennifer Grey saw her incipient stardom go up in smoke after two rhinoplasties, undertaken in the early 1990s at the urging of her mother, left her unrecognizable to people who’d known her since childhood.
—Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 30 July 2025
On one hand, part of their appreciation for warning sirens lies in the noble purpose of preventing harm in the face of incipient natural disasters.
—Claudia Levens, jsonline.com, 25 July 2025
Miss Lonelyhearts—who is actually a man—is an advice columnist receiving letters from people who are impoverished, in despair, and surrounded by an atmosphere of moral depravity and incipient fascism.
—The New Yorker, New Yorker, 16 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for incipient
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incipient
Adjective
-
At a time when virtually every door to opportunity was shut to African Americans, Robeson (1898-1976) achieved enormous feats – becoming a star football player at Rutgers and later earning his law degree from Columbia University while playing in the nascent NFL.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
6 Nov. 2025
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The companies aren’t at all ready to discuss marketing so nascent a product, but Hodak does venture a number—on the order of $100,000 to $200,000 for a Prima implant.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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An initial target of £2,000 had doubled by the time Scunthorpe confirmed on Thursday that he had been discharged from hospital.—
Philip Buckingham,
New York Times,
8 Nov. 2025
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The initial childhood of Victor Frankenstein lends itself more to that age of enlightenment.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
8 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
My first apartment on 15th and Union Square was a studio in a classy old building with marble pillars, one small room with a bigger bathroom and strangely an even bigger closet.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 Nov. 2025
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The purchase was the first investment by a Middle Eastern carrier in an East Asian airline.—
John Liu,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Incipient.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incipient. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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