ascent

Language: en

🇺🇸 /əˈsɛnt/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    The act of rising or climbing upward; an upward movement.; An upward slope or path; a way leading upward.; Progress or advancement to a higher position, rank, or level.; The degree of inclination or steepness of a slope; gradient.; A movement backward in time or toward origins; tracing back to ancestors.

🔗 Details

Word forms

countable Plural: ascents

Collocations

make an ascentrapid ascentsteep ascentfirst ascentascent to powerascent of

Derivatives

ascendascendingascendantascensionascendancy

Synonyms

climbriseelevationascensionscalinguphill

Antonyms

descentdeclinefall

Commonly confused

assent
EN: 'Assent' means agreement or approval; 'ascent' means the act of climbing or rising upward.
accent
EN: 'Accent' refers to a distinctive pronunciation or a mark on a letter; 'ascent' refers to upward movement.

Spelling tips

EN: Do not confuse 'ascent' (upward climb) with 'assent' (agreement) — they differ by one letter but have entirely different meanings.

💬 Examples

  1. The ascent of the hot air balloon was slow and steady.

  2. The steep ascent to the mountain summit took them three hours.

  3. Her rapid ascent to the position of CEO surprised everyone in the company.

  4. The road had an ascent of about ten degrees.

  5. The genealogist traced the family's ascent to a medieval knight.