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onward

adverb · adjective · verb

Simple meaning

Forward in time or order or degree.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

awnwerd

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɔnwɚd

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adverb

  1. Forward in time or order or degree

  2. In a forward direction

adjective

  1. not comparable

    Moving forward.

  2. Advanced in a forward direction or toward an end.

verb

  1. intransitive

    To keep going; to progress or persevere.

  2. transitive

    To pass (something) onward; to forward.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Forward in time or order or degree

Used this way, onward is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

onward marchever onwardonward christian

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • forth

    Forward in time or order or degree.

  • forwards

    Synonym of forward in most senses.

  • onwards

    In a forward direction.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • onwardsadverbPlural form

    In a forward direction.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • onward motionnounCompound term

    The act of moving forward (as toward a goal).

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: forward in time or order or degree

forthArchaicforward

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.