Synonyms of start

start 1 of 4

verb (1)

ˈstärt 

1

as in to jump

to move suddenly and sharply (as in surprise)

I started from my chair when I heard the sudden scream

Synonyms & Similar Words

• jump
• leap
• cringe
• wince
• flinch
• startle
• bolt
• twitch
• jerk
• react
• bound
• respond
• spring
• shrink
• recoil
• spook
• jolt
• quail
• blench
• squinch

2

as in to establish

to be responsible for the creation and early operation or use of

started the impressionist movement in art

Synonyms & Similar Words

• establish
• initiate
• found
• pioneer
• launch
• begin
• introduce
• create
• institute
• inaugurate
• plant
• constitute
• construct
• organize
• originate
• innovate
• set up
• develop
• invent
• author
• produce
• devise
• manufacture
• think (up)
• conceive
• expand
• fund
• make up
• cook (up)
• finance
• contrive
• concoct
• enlarge
• father
• arrange
• subsidize
• endow
• fabricate
• systematize
• reinitiate
• put up
• relaunch
• reinstitute
• systemize
• refound

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• close (down)
• shut (up)
• stop
• end
• finish
• abolish
• nullify
• terminate
• phase out
• annul
• halt
• annihilate
• wind up
• round (off or out)
• wrap up

3

as in to activate

to cause to function

trying to start the car on a frigid morning

Synonyms & Similar Words

• activate
• trigger
• spark
• drive
• move
• power
• generate
• set off
• run
• fuel
• ignite
• provoke
• turn on
• actuate
• push
• charge
• touch off
• launch
• crank (up)
• fire
• stimulate
• switch
• energize
• electrify
• release
• trip
• turn over
• accelerate
• reactivate
• kick over
• discharge
• kick-start
• instigate
• jump-start
• recharge
• quicken
• incite
• stir up
• excite
• arouse
• catalyze
• step up
• vitalize
• speed (up)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• cut
• kill
• stop
• shut off
• cut out
• check
• turn off
• stick
• cut off
• halt
• brake
• arrest
• draw up
• deactivate
• slow
• suppress
• stall
• jam
• repress
• decelerate
• stunt

4

as in to begin

to come into existence

the fight started when one child tripped the other

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

5

as in to protrude

to extend outward beyond a usual point

frightened horses with starting eyes

Synonyms & Similar Words

• protrude
• poke
• stand out
• project
• jut
• bulge
• swell
• stick out
• bunch
• extend
• pout
• overhang
• balloon
• pouch
• billow
• lengthen
• pooch
• belly
• stretch
• dome
• expand
• beetle
• bag
• inflate
• dilate
• snowball
• distend
• elongate
• blow up
• mushroom

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• shrink
• contract
• compress
• condense
• constrict

6

as in to commence

to take the first step in (a process or course of action)

we'll be ready to start the concert in a moment

Synonyms & Similar Words

• begin
• commence
• open
• launch
• found
• fall (to)
• set about
• create
• get going
• enter (into or upon)
• embark (on or upon)
• strike (into)
• get off
• initiate
• get to
• lead off
• organize
• generate
• establish
• kick off
• originate
• adopt
• invent
• inaugurate
• pioneer
• institute
• innovate
• take up
• take on
• embrace
• spawn
• get down (to)
• get around (to)
• set up
• father
• get round (to)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• end
• finish
• stop
• conclude
• terminate
• cease
• quit
• discontinue
• complete
• halt
• close
• leave
• abandon
• lay off
• desist
• destroy
• abolish
• knock off
• extinguish
• forsake
• phase out
• exterminate
• demolish

start

2 of 4

noun (1)

as in beginning

the point at which something begins

knew from the start of the game that he would win easily

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

starts

3 of 4

verb (2)

present tense third-person singular of start

1

as in jumps

to move suddenly and sharply (as in surprise)

I started from my chair when I heard the sudden scream

Synonyms & Similar Words

• jumps
• winces
• leaps
• cringes
• startles
• flinches
• reacts
• bolts
• twitches
• jerks
• responds
• recoils
• shrinks
• springs
• jolts
• spooks
• bounds
• blenches
• quails
• squinches

2

as in founds

to be responsible for the creation and early operation or use of

started the impressionist movement in art

Synonyms & Similar Words

• founds
• establishes
• initiates
• begins
• launches
• introduces
• creates
• institutes
• pioneers
• inaugurates
• plants
• constitutes
• originates
• innovates
• organizes
• constructs
• develops
• invents
• sets up
• authors
• produces
• fathers
• manufactures
• conceives
• devises
• concocts
• expands
• thinks (up)
• cooks (up)
• contrives
• enlarges
• makes up
• subsidizes
• endows
• arranges
• finances
• fabricates
• funds
• systematizes
• reinitiates
• relaunches
• systemizes
• reinstitutes
• refounds
• puts up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• closes (down)
• ends
• shuts (up)
• stops
• finishes
• abolishes
• terminates
• annihilates
• nullifies
• halts
• annuls
• phases out
• rounds (off or out)
• winds up
• wraps up

3

as in activates

to cause to function

trying to start the car on a frigid morning

Synonyms & Similar Words

• activates
• triggers
• sparks
• drives
• moves
• generates
• powers
• fuels
• runs
• ignites
• sets off
• provokes
• actuates
• turns on
• pushes
• launches
• touches off
• cranks (up)
• fires
• charges
• stimulates
• energizes
• electrifies
• switches
• accelerates
• turns over
• releases
• trips
• reactivates
• excites
• arouses
• kick-starts
• incites
• kicks over
• instigates
• quickens
• recharges
• discharges
• jump-starts
• catalyzes
• speeds (up)
• stirs up
• steps up
• vitalizes

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• kills
• stops
• cuts
• turns off
• shuts off
• brakes
• arrests
• cuts out
• halts
• checks
• sticks
• stalls
• jams
• slows
• deactivates
• cuts off
• suppresses
• draws up
• represses
• decelerates
• stunts

4

as in begins

to come into existence

the fight started when one child tripped the other

Synonyms & Similar Words

• begins
• commences
• originates
• arises
• appears
• is
• emerges
• arrives
• forms
• springs
• engenders
• exists
• breaks
• dawns
• lasts
• materializes
• sets in
• lives
• actualizes
• continues
• breathes
• persists
• survives
• comes on
• subsists
• endures
• shapes (up)
• coalesces
• coheres

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ends
• stops
• ceases
• concludes
• finishes
• terminates
• disappears
• halts
• quits
• vanishes
• dissolves
• dies
• evaporates
• departs
• expires
• discontinues
• desists
• perishes
• passes away

5

as in protrudes

to extend outward beyond a usual point

frightened horses with starting eyes

Synonyms & Similar Words

• protrudes
• pokes
• juts
• bulges
• stands out
• swells
• sticks out
• projects
• pouts
• extends
• billows
• overhangs
• bunches
• beetles
• pouches
• lengthens
• bellies
• balloons
• bags
• stretches
• inflates
• expands
• dilates
• pooches
• distends
• elongates
• domes
• mushrooms
• snowballs
• blows up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• shrinks
• contracts
• condenses
• compresses
• constricts

6

as in commences

to take the first step in (a process or course of action)

we'll be ready to start the concert in a moment

Synonyms & Similar Words

• begins
• commences
• opens
• launches
• falls (to)
• creates
• enters (into or upon)
• strikes (into)
• initiates
• gets going
• embarks (on or upon)
• gets off
• generates
• gets to
• leads off
• sets about
• originates
• organizes
• establishes
• kicks off
• adopts
• invents
• inaugurates
• founds
• institutes
• spawns
• innovates
• fathers
• embraces
• takes on
• takes up
• gets down (to)
• gets around (to)
• sets up
• pioneers
• gets round (to)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ends
• concludes
• finishes
• stops
• terminates
• ceases
• closes
• halts
• completes
• quits
• discontinues
• leaves
• abandons
• desists
• destroys
• lays off
• forsakes
• knocks off
• abolishes
• extinguishes
• demolishes
• exterminates
• phases out

starts

4 of 4

noun (2)

plural of start

as in beginnings

the point at which something begins

knew from the start of the game that he would win easily

Synonyms & Similar Words

• beginnings
• launches
• inceptions
• onsets
• commencements
• alphas
• dawns
• thresholds
• geneses
• outsets
• day ones
• baselines
• mornings
• kickoffs
• incipiencies
• births
• incipiences
• nascencies
• infancies
• originations
• nascences
• git-goes
• get-goes
• initiations
• origins
• inaugurations
• first bases
• drawing boards
• ground zeros
• debuts
• square ones
• springs
• cradles
• arrivals
• débuts
• emergences
• institutions
• openings
• fountains
• germs
• sources
• creations
• wells
• appearances
• roots
• fountainheads
• advents
• wellsprings
• childhoods
• youths
• seedbeds

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ends
• closes
• conclusions
• endings
• stops
• finishes
• periods
• closures
• completions
• terminations
• closings
• omegas
• cessations
• finales
• windups

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of start

Verb

Earlier this year, Zhang started seeing reports on Chinese social media of students whose visas were cancelled and whose legal status had been terminated. —Michael Luo, New Yorker, 8 June 2025

After two days, the new machine started going bonkers – as if it was possessed. —Scott Kramer, Forbes.com, 8 June 2025

Noun

But conservatives from the House Freedom Caucus negotiated for a quicker start date, in December 2026, to start the spending reductions sooner. —Arkansas Online, 8 June 2025

Hawkins will begin the transition into the new position in June with a July 1 official start date. —Post-Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 8 June 2025

Verb

An ‘endangered’ town starts planning With federal recognition proving elusive, a Brooklyn school grant writer named Kay Diamond suggested that Rogers and others look to Landmarks Illinois for help. —Jonathan Bullington, Chicago Tribune, 5 Jan. 2025

When things take a shadow turn, Gromit starts to question the true nature of the experiment. —Erik Kain, Forbes, 4 Jan. 2025

Phrases Containing start

• to start with