as in first
coming before all others in time or order
you've resolved my initial complaint, but now I have a new question
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of initial
Reuters, CNN Money, 20 June 2025
One ballot was tossed out because it wasn’t initialed by an election judge, and Balich won the position via a lottery.
—Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 17 Feb. 2025
Quincy Bulin, Southern Living, 4 Oct. 2025
Mandel's initial proposal for Harlow & Hem called for 89 apartments within a three- to four-story building and four two-story townhomes that would be condos along Harwood Avenue.
—Bridget Fogarty, jsonline.com, 3 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for initial
Adjective
The two countries and the United States said on Wednesday that their technical teams initialed a draft peace agreement that is expected to be signed next week.
—Reuters, CNN Money, 20 June 2025
One ballot was tossed out because it wasn’t initialed by an election judge, and Balich won the position via a lottery.
—Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 17 Feb. 2025
Verb
Instead, skipping steps leads to later trying to make up for the lack of initial prep.
—Quincy Bulin, Southern Living, 4 Oct. 2025
Mandel's initial proposal for Harlow & Hem called for 89 apartments within a three- to four-story building and four two-story townhomes that would be condos along Harwood Avenue.
—Bridget Fogarty, jsonline.com, 3 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for initial
Recent Examples of Synonyms for initial
Adjective
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The vast majority of those applications were submitted during the state's first priority window, which ran March 3-23.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
2 Oct. 2025
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Like some other customers, Micah Fannin was checking out Dutch Bros for the first time.—
Patricia Gallagher Newberry,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
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That about sums up the Rangers’ back-end makeover, which saw K’Andre Miller shipped to Carolina and Gavrikov sign on a massive UFA pact.—
Harman Dayal,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
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The Full Moon in your sign on October 6th feels like a personal rebirth, one that’s been building since the solar eclipse in Aries back on March 29th.—
Dossé-Via Trenou,
Refinery29,
5 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The original Champagnes weren’t bottled with the intent of undergoing secondary fermentation that would cause its trademark bubbles to form.—
Mike DeSimone,
Robb Report,
5 Oct. 2025
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The state amended its original complaint in federal district court and filed a second temporary restraining order to pause the president’s actions, Rayfield said.—
Lauren Mascarenhas,
CNN Money,
5 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Tyler Reddick came in sixth after collecting a stage win in AJ Allmendinger’s win two years ago, and inaugural pole-sitter Kurt Busch earned a fifth-place finish in 2018.—
Shane Connuck
October 4,
Charlotte Observer,
4 Oct. 2025
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Future Ruins, the inaugural film-music festival run by Oscar-winning duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, has been canceled.—
Mitchell Peters,
Billboard,
4 Oct. 2025
Verb
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In response to that news, Colbert received an outpouring of support from many of his current and former fellow talk-show hosts, including Kimmel, who even took out a billboard in Los Angeles endorsing Colbert (against his own show), for an Emmy.—
Raechal Shewfelt,
Entertainment Weekly,
1 Oct. 2025
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Although the ‘9-9-6’ workweek violates Chinese labor laws, it was famously endorsed by Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma in 2019.—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The Senate did not pass dueling bills authored by Republicans and Democrats.—
George Petras,
USA Today,
6 Oct. 2025
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The paper came on the heels of another report, authored by OpenAI, which sought to measure AI’s ability to do real-world tasks by comparing machine to human performance in blind tests.—
Harry Booth,
Time,
6 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Its maiden flight and recent test successes signal solid engineering.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Oct. 2025
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The show is one of several new offerings on Brilliant Lady, which sailed its maiden voyage in early September, and USA TODAY was among the first to see the show.—
Nathan Diller,
USA Today,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Getting the winger signed was necessary for Predators general manager Barry Trotz after rookie right wing Matthew Wood suffered a preseason lower-body injury.—
Eric Stephens,
New York Times,
4 Oct. 2025
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The letter was also signed by a former assistant principal in the district.—
Alexandra Hardle,
AZCentral.com,
3 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Initial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/initial. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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