onset

Language: en

🇬🇧 /ˈɒˌnsɛt/ 🇺🇸 /ˈɑˌnsɛt/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    The beginning or start of something, especially something unpleasant or undesirable such as a disease, attack, or period of difficulty.; A sudden or violent attack or assault; an onslaught.; In phonetics, the initial consonant or consonant cluster of a syllable, preceding the nucleus (vowel).; The initial phase or early stage of a process, condition, or event.; (Archaic) A setting upon; a beginning of action or enterprise.

🔗 Details

Word forms

countable Plural: onsets

Collocations

the onset ofat the onsetearly onsetsudden onsetonset of winteronset of disease

Synonyms

beginningstartcommencementinceptionoutbreak

Antonyms

endconclusioncessation

Commonly confused

outset
EN: 'Outset' is a neutral term for the beginning of anything; 'onset' typically implies the start of something unpleasant or unwelcome (e.g., disease, winter, conflict).

Spelling tips

EN: No common spelling issues. Note that 'onset' is one word, not 'on set'.

💬 Examples

  1. The onset of winter brought shorter days and colder temperatures.

  2. The soldiers prepared to withstand the onset of the enemy forces.

  3. In the word 'string,' the onset is the consonant cluster /str/.

  4. Early detection at the onset of the disease greatly improves the prognosis.

  5. At the onset of his career, he faced many challenges.