1
as in vanguard
the innovators of new concepts, styles, and techniques especially in the arts
an artist who was in the van of abstract expressionism
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in forefront
the leading or most important part of a movement
a company that is considered by some to be in the van of the latest technology for renewable energy
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of van
It's flung open the doors to its second production facility that's set up to roll out over 10,000 of its driverless four-passenger vans annually.
—
New Atlas, 20 June 2025
Officers with assault rifles and faces covered pulled those arrested into vans and trucks.
—Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 20 June 2025
Around noon, federal agents in riot gear pushed through to clear the way for a van.
—E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 13 June 2025
The trailer works on iPhones 18.4 or later. F1, out in theaters June 27 from Apple Original Films, stars Pitt as Sonny Hayes, a fictional Formula One prodigy in the 1990s who has to retire due to a crash and now lives in a van and gambles his life away.
—Leslie Katz, Forbes.com, 12 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for van
New Atlas, 20 June 2025
Officers with assault rifles and faces covered pulled those arrested into vans and trucks.
—Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 20 June 2025
Around noon, federal agents in riot gear pushed through to clear the way for a van.
—E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 13 June 2025
The trailer works on iPhones 18.4 or later. F1, out in theaters June 27 from Apple Original Films, stars Pitt as Sonny Hayes, a fictional Formula One prodigy in the 1990s who has to retire due to a crash and now lives in a van and gambles his life away.
—Leslie Katz, Forbes.com, 12 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for van
Recent Examples of Synonyms for van
Noun
-
Lalonde was key in developing a unique strategy that brought the group’s vanguard brands B&B Italia, Flos, Louis Poulsen, Maxalto, Arclinea and Azucena under one roof.—
Sofia Celeste,
Footwear News,
27 June 2025
-
The multi-media vanguard is now channeling his creative vision into telling authentic stories of Black love through independent filmmaking.—
Maia Niguel Hoskin,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2025
Noun
-
At the forefront of Williamson’s latest project is the Buckley family, who are struggling to regain control of their North Carolina fishing empire.—
Monica Mercuri,
Forbes.com,
23 June 2025
-
The sanctions were issued as a result of concerns over Iran’s nuclear capabilities—the very topic at the forefront of the current conflict.—
Callum Sutherland,
Time,
23 June 2025
Noun
-
Turkmenistan possesses the world’s fourth largest reserves of natural gas in its underground, exporting gas to countries such as Pakistan, China, India, Iran and Russia.—
David Bressan,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2025
-
New York is home to a thriving underground of edgy, experimental noise bands right now, and Brutus VIII, the conceptual project led by musician Jackson Katz, is one of the best.—
Simon Vozick-Levinson,
Rolling Stone,
6 May 2025
Noun
-
Additional investors include Fred Moll, the cofounder of Intuitive Surgical and pioneer of robotic surgery, who has joined the company’s strategic advisory board.—
Amy Feldman,
Forbes.com,
24 June 2025
-
The Mughal Empire’s hunger for land taxes, for instance, drove an assault on eastern India’s forests in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which redistributed land to pioneer cultivators willing to undertake that work of settlement.—
Michael Albertus,
Foreign Affairs,
24 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Van.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/van. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.
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