Synonyms of commences

commences

verb

present tense third-person singular of commence

1

as in begins

to take the first step in (a process or course of action)

commence the festivities

Synonyms & Similar Words

• begins
• starts
• opens
• launches
• falls (to)
• strikes (into)
• enters (into or upon)
• creates
• initiates
• gets going
• embarks (on or upon)
• originates
• gets off
• generates
• leads off
• gets to
• sets about
• kicks off
• establishes
• adopts
• organizes
• inaugurates
• invents
• founds
• institutes
• fathers
• spawns
• embraces
• innovates
• takes on
• gets down (to)
• gets around (to)
• takes up
• sets up
• pioneers
• gets round (to)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ends
• concludes
• terminates
• finishes
• ceases
• stops
• halts
• completes
• closes
• discontinues
• quits
• leaves
• abandons
• desists
• destroys
• forsakes
• lays off
• abolishes
• extinguishes
• knocks off
• demolishes
• exterminates
• phases out

2

as in starts

to come into existence

the games commenced early in the morning

Synonyms & Similar Words

• begins
• starts
• originates
• arises
• appears
• is
• emerges
• arrives
• forms
• engenders
• springs
• exists
• dawns
• lasts
• materializes
• breaks
• actualizes
• sets in
• continues
• lives
• breathes
• persists
• survives
• subsists
• comes on
• endures
• shapes (up)
• coalesces
• coheres

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ends
• ceases
• stops
• concludes
• terminates
• finishes
• halts
• disappears
• vanishes
• quits
• dissolves
• dies
• expires
• evaporates
• departs
• discontinues
• desists
• perishes
• passes away

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of commences

January 2025 to May 2025 Cornell commences a Title IX investigation. — Amy B Wang, Washington Post, 5 Oct. 2026

The pilot commences online and at stores across Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. — Vicki M. Young, Footwear News, 29 Sep. 2026

The Europa League commences with its first league phase fixtures next week, on Wednesday, September 16 and Thursday, September 17. — Leon Imber, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026

This tender novel of intimacy and its risks begins in Boston in 1969, as Eve, a dancer, commences an affair with a colleague—an indiscretion that spurs her husband, a journalist named Gabe, to cheat, too. — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026

The Jet Set to the Beekman package commences with a Blade helicopter flight to Pier 11 in Lower Manhattan (from eligible departure points), where a house car will then take you to the Beekman’s West Turret penthouse. — Spencer Whaley, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2026

With a fury inside him, Garfield unleashes violence against them and commences the rebellion. — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 16 July 2026

For borrowers looking to purchase a home or refinance their current one in this climate, however, there are also some strategic moves worth considering now, before the Fed's June meeting even commences. — Matt Richardson, CBS News, 12 June 2026

Mercury’s pre-retrograde shadow (the weeks leading up to the celestial backspin when the planet slows down), which began on June 13 in water Cancer, starts the story for the planet’s moonwalk that commences on June 29. — Lisa Stardust, Vogue, 10 June 2026