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

Relevance

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 The mission came about from a call for collaboration by the then nascent NASA in 1958, with scientists with Canada's Defence and Research Telecommunications Establishment submitting a proposal for two Alouette satellites to study Earth's ionosphere. — Tariq Malik, Space.com, 28 Sep. 2026 Well, the folks behind the nascent NWSL squad seem to have something cooked up for Monday. — Tyler Estep, AJC.com, 25 Sep. 2026 So far, Meta’s famously poor privacy track record in social media has not prevented it from taking the lead in the nascent smart glasses category. — Sebastian Herrera, Fortune, 24 Sep. 2026 Not so for their nonalcoholic counterparts, a nascent category that has only recently invited innovation as the number of such options flood the market. — Esther Tseng, Bon Appetit Magazine, 21 Sep. 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
  • However, Efthymiou has been unable to get GBP100,000 (about $130,000) to perform the initial mouse-model study.
    — Deepa Fernandes, STAT, 8 Oct. 2026
  • In the initial screening, AccuPoint Solutions uses a variety of primary data points as a minimum baseline, maximum ceiling or within a range to eliminate those firms that do not meet CNBC's requirements.
    — Kelli Grant, CFP®,Riley de León, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of initial
Adjective
  • Now Ricketts is running for his first full six-year term against independent Dan Osborn -- a race that initially was not expected to be competitive but is now being watched by the national parties.
    — NICHOLAS INGRAM, Arkansas Online, 6 Oct. 2026
  • One of the first of those is when their AI program teaches itself to beat the machine in a notoriously difficult video game.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 6 Oct. 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
  • Within weeks of the CEO change, however, the budding bromance was officially dead.
    — Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 19 Sep. 2026
  • 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
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
  • Some of those had major errors, like a hand with six fingers and clocks with numbers in the wrong places, both of which were approved lesson plans for elementary classrooms.
    — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Saint followed her sister to Bowling Green State University in Ohio and majored in elementary education.
    — Duane Byrge, HollywoodReporter, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of elementary
Adjective
  • The Fox reboot is being showrun by Matt Nix (Burn Notice),while many of the original creators are back to EP, including Michael Berk, Greg Bonann and Doug Schwartz, alongside new EPs Dante Di Loreto and Mike Horowitz.
    — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 8 Oct. 2026
  • The original series won the Golden Globe for best drama in 2019 and routinely lands near the top of lists hailing the best TV series of the past quarter century.
    — Mathew Scott, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of original

Browse Nearby Words

nascency
nascent
nastily
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Nascent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nascent. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of etiquette

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All