1
as in attacks
the act or action of setting upon with force or violence
the walls withstood the onset of the first battalion
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in beginnings
the point at which something begins
the claim that if you take enough vitamin C at the onset of a cold, you'll often recover faster
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of Synonyms for onsets
Noun
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The Kerch road and rail crossing, opened by Putin in 2018, has been the target of previous Ukrainian attacks.
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The first is Kryla, a compact cruise missile carrying a 50-kilogram warhead designed for saturation attacks.
Noun
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The 22-year-old said his mind drifted back to his own beginnings, in Stockton, on that concept of general generational trauma.
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From their beginnings in the early 1990s, Failure have attracted admirers to their muscular, celestial sound, including Tool’s Maynard James Keenan and Paramore’s Hayley Williams.
Noun
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The evolution of unmanned warfare has become so pronounced that Ukrainian forces recently conducted what has been described as one of the first unmanned assaults on a Russian position.
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This ongoing challenge underscores how accomplished women, particularly women of color, still face gendered and racialized assaults that undermine their achievements.
Noun
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This morning favors gentle starts and better listening, while the afternoon asks us to slow replies, check assumptions, and make our tone easier to understand.
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The Royals veteran spent 2021 with the Rays organization and made 23 starts.
Noun
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Trump’s immigration team vows that more raids are forthcoming.
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Japanese antitrust officials periodically make high-profile raids to protect fair competition, such as one on Google, instructing it to fix its advertising search restrictions allegedly affecting Yahoo in the country.
Noun
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Recent Harvard commencements have grown much more political.
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Originally called MarchingOrder, Tassel had provided services for commencements for around 20 years before adding the AI name offering.
Noun
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Russia appeared to be flexing its military muscle in a show of force with its latest aerial onslaughts on Ukraine.
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Wardley, 31, had never lost in 21 bouts before Saturday, and somehow withstood numerous onslaughts from Dubois (23-3) without ever touching the canvas in a remarkable display of courage.
Noun
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In the past few years, Underwood has come to realize that a bunch of barking alphas may not, in fact, be the best way to build a successful pack.
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As a ballplayer, Kent was as irascible as Bonds; the two alphas reportedly brawled behind clubhouse doors, and famously clashed in the dugout during a 2002 game, when Bonds lunged for Kent’s throat and pushed him against the wall.
Cite this Entry
“Onsets.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/onsets. Accessed 26 Jun. 2026.
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