Synonyms of dawn

dawn 1 of 2

noun

1

as in sunrise

the first appearance of light in the morning or the time of its appearance

we stayed up talking until dawn

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sunrise
• dawning
• day
• morning
• morn
• daybreak
• daylight
• light
• sun
• aurora
• sunup
• cockcrow
• daytime
• forenoon

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sunset
• nightfall
• night
• sundown
• midnight
• darkness
• dark
• afternoon
• nighttime
• midday
• evening
• dusk
• twilight
• eventide
• gloaming

2

as in beginning

the point at which something begins

the dawn of civilization

Synonyms & Similar Words

• beginning
• start
• inception
• onset
• commencement
• alpha
• launch
• morning
• genesis
• outset
• threshold
• birth
• infancy
• baseline
• day one
• nascence
• kickoff
• incipience
• inauguration
• incipiency
• nascency
• initiation
• origination
• founding
• origin
• dawning
• get-go
• arrival
• spring
• emergence
• first base
• advent
• creation
• drawing board
• opening
• cradle
• germ
• fountain
• ground zero
• source
• well
• institution
• debut
• childhood
• square one
• appearance
• root
• youth
• wellspring
• fountainhead
• seedbed

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• end
• conclusion
• close
• ending
• period
• completion
• closing
• omega
• termination
• finish
• cessation
• stop
• closure
• finale
• windup

dawn

2 of 2

verb

ˈdȯn 

as in to start

to come into existence

a smile dawned on his face as he got the joke

Synonyms & Similar Words

• start
• begin
• commence
• arise
• originate
• appear
• be
• emerge
• form
• spring
• arrive
• set in
• last
• break
• exist
• materialize
• live
• actualize
• engender
• breathe
• continue
• survive
• shape (up)
• subsist
• persist
• come on
• endure
• coalesce
• cohere

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• end
• stop
• cease
• finish
• conclude
• halt
• terminate
• disappear
• quit
• die
• discontinue
• vanish
• dissolve
• depart
• expire
• perish
• evaporate
• desist
• pass away

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of dawn

Noun

Similar worries trouble Muslim communities, whose mandatory morning recitations conclude precisely at dawn. — Marc Ramirez, USA Today, 25 July 2026

Still, there are some animal behaviors that are perhaps easier to explain, such as mistakenly engaging in dusk or dawn routines. — Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 23 July 2026

Verb

The Crips and Bloods reached the apex of their Stockton influence in the 1980s and 1990s, Washington recalled, as the concept of fast money dawned along with the crack cocaine epidemic. — Luca Evans, Denver Post, 21 June 2026

Once airborne, though, a sense of infinity dawned out the cockpit windows, and of sheer mass behind the pilots. — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 12 June 2026

Phrases Containing dawn

• dawn (on)