nascent

adjective

ˈna-sᵊnt How to pronounce nascent (audio)
Definition of nascentnext
as in initial
beginning to come into existence one of the leading figures in the nascent civil-rights movement

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 nascent In 1801, on the nation’s 25th birthday, the nascent District of Columbia’s muddy streets were chockablock with horse racing and cockfighting, according to the White House Historical Association. — Patrik Jonsson, Christian Science Monitor, 21 Aug. 2026 At the time, ConnectSafely’s only funder was MySpace, but Kelly agreed to provide funding for our nascent internet-safety nonprofit. — Larry Magid, Mercury News, 20 Aug. 2026 Tom Hill / Getty Images The band's rock-chic cool played well on the nascent MTV crowd and their videos, featuring models in short skirts emerging from one of Gibbons' custom roadsters, became a mainstay. — CBS News, 18 Aug. 2026 Bill Rasmussen, a former local-news sports director who parlayed an interest in the nascent business of satellite television into the launch of the sports-media giant known as ESPN, has died after a battle with Parkinson’s disease. — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 18 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for nascent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nascent
  1. initial
  2. first
  3. incipient
  4. budding
  5. inchoate
  6. elementary
  7. original
Adjective
  • The film is downright Tarkovskian for its initial hour, unspooling through eerie abstractions that heighten its lingering domestic turmoil.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Entertainment Weekly reached out to Grande’s reps for comment at the time of the initial lyric changes.
    — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of initial
Adjective
  • Player of the Week Senior outside hitter Quinn Grevengoed tallies 92 kills and 15 aces in seven matches and then is named MVP for host Chicago Christian as Knights take tournament title for first time since 2014.
    — Jeff Vorva, Chicago Tribune, 1 Sep. 2026
  • After filling our brushes with mouthwash from docking station reservoirs, Sarah and I brushed our teeth side-by-side (a first for both of us professionally).
    — Jenny Bailly, Allure, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of first
Adjective
  • My ‘Deborah Vance Show senior writer’ persona was kind of a rude complainer with an incipient alcohol problem.
    — Merrill Markoe, Deadline, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Yet people in Venezuela saw few indications of an incipient transition.
    — Stephania Taladrid, New Yorker, 20 July 2026
Definition of incipient
Adjective
  • Following the characters’ daily lives as tweens, the series shows us a much more vulnerable Angelica (Cheryl Chase), and a not-so-bald Tommy’s (Elizabeth Daily) imagination evolving into a budding filmmaking career.
    — Skyler Trepel, Entertainment Weekly, 20 June 2026
  • The camp will let budding designers explore and take the world of fashion to the next level using AI tools.
    — Hema Sivanandam, Mercury News, 15 June 2026
Definition of budding
Adjective
  • When she, like many other comely Vanderpump employees, entangled in each other’s lives and shifts, was asked to be on Vanderpump Rules, Ajir was hesitant about its potential impact on Madix’s inchoate acting career.
    — Anna Peele, Vanity Fair, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Yet, even these inchoate moments deepen the music’s sense of honest confusion.
    — Jon Dolan, Rolling Stone, 8 June 2026
Definition of inchoate
Adjective
  • The additional restrictions at these school districts come a few months after the school district and police department in Rocklin banned Class 2 and Class 3 e-bikes on elementary and middle school campuses.
    — Madison Smalstig, Sacbee.com, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Adding West High School will require drawing a third zone, and the zone boundaries will affect the racial and socioeconomic balance of schools, along with transportation times and feeder patterns for elementary and middle schools.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of elementary
Adjective
  • The shop’s mascot, a rabbit, is named Lewis, after the original Lewis & Duncan grocery store that once inhabited the building.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Historic Preservation Commission members voted Thursday to approve exterior changes to the mansion’s original design plan as the building, now more than a century old, undergoes restoration and renovation as part of a new residential development.
    — Carolyn Stein, Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of original

Browse Nearby Words

nascency
nascent
nastily
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Cite this Entry

“Nascent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nascent. Accessed 3 Sep. 2026.

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