dawning 1 of 2

as in dawn
the first appearance of light in the morning or the time of its appearance the cold, gray dawning of a wintry day

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

dawning

2 of 2

verb

present participle of dawn

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of dawning
Noun
Or the dawning in 1893 of the age of Wrigley and its Juicy Fruit gum! — Jeffrey Steingarten, Vogue, 25 Oct. 2026 The quiet moments, the grief, the slow dawning of realization that her husband had written this piece as a way of dealing with his grief and her anger. — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Mar. 2026 Ever enterprising, Toha does eventually make her way back to the party, but there, the ultimate dawning of her place outside of Nelly’s circle is heartbreaking. — Alissa Simon, Variety, 25 Feb. 2026 His addition also heralded the dawning of an era in which LACMA actively sought to strengthen its connections with the entertainment world. — Arts Editor, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2026 From the origins of the Yakuza, the dawning of chemical warfare, and FDR’s spy shops, the novel treks across World War II to the dawn of the Cold War. — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Jan. 2026 The dawning of light in this actor’s eyes breathes life into the old tale. — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025 On social media, some people even suggested this was the dawning of a new populist coalition of left and right. — Chicago Tribune, Twin Cities, 30 Nov. 2025 As the sun rises behind the ELT, the image stands for the dawning of a new era in astronomical discovery. — Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Verb
Already offputting, Reid’s performance of Rapp’s dawning realizations — flipping from dismissive skepticism to feverish belief with little in between — grows less grounded by the minute. — Alison Herman, Variety, 23 Oct. 2026 There’s both a lot and not much at all going on in Kamei’s life, which is complicated by his dawning friendship — and maybe something more — with an American military brat, Colin (West Mulholland, Presence). — Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2026 In this dawning age of artificial intelligence, tech companies are racing to train and run their large language models using massive data centers that guzzle electricity and strain resources. — Arielle Frommer, Scientific American, 20 Aug. 2026 And Cooke, the season’s MVP of revealing expressions and reaction shots, conveys through Alicent’s uncertain and frightened face at all those butterflies a dawning realization of the betrayal she’s suffered. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 10 Aug. 2026 Léa Seydoux gives a very committed, unaffected performance as Lucy, an experimental pianist who must deal with the dawning knowledge that her beloved husband Philip (Laurence Rupp) has a second life online as a pedophile pornographer. — Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 15 May 2026 But the young nation was dawning a new age. — Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune, 28 Apr. 2026 Three races in, there’ve been unforeseen winners, unpredicted changes to the schedule and the unanticipated reality of regulation changes dawning. — Amanda Davies, CNN Money, 24 Apr. 2026 This is the familiar stage of rhetorical climbdown, indicating dawning awareness that a problem is more complicated than the president initially thought. — S.e. Cupp, New York Daily News, 11 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dawning
Noun
  • The arrests followed a dawn shootout, and all three men were wounded, officials said.
    — Omar Akour, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Around dawn a fiber optic stand that flickered light was turned on and everyone gathered held a moment of silence in memories of Noel.
    — Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Reader poll shows opposition The latest debate comes just a week after the council approved raising its members’ annual salaries by nearly 74%, from $69,000 to $119,750, beginning with the next term.
    — Natalie Jones, Baltimore Sun, 28 Oct. 2026
  • The film follows sixteen-year-old Haymitch Abernathy (Joseph Zada) from District 12, beginning on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Annual Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell, the biggest Games yet with twice as many tributes.
    — Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 28 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Smoky incense is still a source of meditative calm and comfort, but it’s made more transparent and wearable this season by pairing it with florals or creamier woods—more like a sunrise yoga class than an old-school church.
    — Loren Savini, Allure, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Someone slaps a strip of medical tape across their lips, promises you deeper sleep, fewer snores and a sharper jawline by morning, then cuts to a dreamy sunrise shot.
    — Samantha Agate, Charlotte Observer, 24 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Gonsolin, 32, will compete for a spot in the Royals’ starting rotation next season.
    — Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 30 Oct. 2026
  • The United States has starting making arrangements to prepare its key bases to operate for at least 3 months without outside support.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 30 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • The last polls before election day have given Eisenkot’s Yashar presumed coalition a lead of about two to six seats over Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, according to three of Israel’s main broadcasters.
    — Yarden Segev, NBC news, 27 Oct. 2026
  • This September 25 concert was Lui’s record release event for Instant Validation, which came out that same day via Asthmatic Kitty Records.
    — Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 27 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • However, the companies have not announced a specific US Navy procurement award arising from the trial.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 20 Oct. 2026
  • In an email to Space, Asphaug explained some of the issues arising from this, since current estimates place the timing of the moon's formation anywhere from around 40 to 120 million years after the formation of the solar system.
    — Micah Hanks, Space.com, 19 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • The light green safari shade is especially fun, or go for an aquatic vibe with the icy morn/sea wave two-combo.
    — Rena Behar, Travel + Leisure, 26 May 2023
  • This gives me, in the parking lot the next morn, yet another opportunity to introduce myself to fellow travelers who possess jumper cables.
    — John Phillips, Car and Driver, 9 Jan. 2023
Verb
  • Holmes was convicted of fraud in 2018 and sentenced to just over 11 years in federal prison, commencing in May 2023.
    — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The film will shoot on location at the heart of Pendle in Lancashire, with principal photography commencing end of September.
    — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 14 Sep. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Dawning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dawning. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster