van

noun

Definition of vannext
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

Relevance

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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of van Also named in the suit is Daval Express, the company that co-owns the van, and David Maasen, the principal of the company. — Caroline Zimmerman, Kansas City Star, 26 Aug. 2026 Crew trucks and vans surrounded the aircraft on the tarmac, video captured by CNN affiliate WBBM showed. — Maria Aguilar Prieto, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2026 Scott Quigley, then embedded with the Middlesex DA’s office, crashed his cruiser into a wheelchair van in December 2023, injuring a man inside who died at the hospital a month later. — Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 25 Aug. 2026 Over the opening weekend of the Premier League season, versions of this conversation are ubiquitous across the country — in pubs, queues at burger vans, stadiums, online, at home. — George Caulkin, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for van
Recent Examples of Synonyms for van
  1. vanguard
  2. forefront
  3. underground
  4. pioneer
Noun
  • The theater was squarely in the exhibition vanguard then, designed and equipped as a boutique-size 750-seat alternative to the massive Balaban & Katz auditoriums of the day.
    — Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026
  • Galliano represents the last of a vanguard of designers who developed cults of personalities.
    — Zoe Sottile, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of vanguard
Noun
  • Lord’s has not been at the forefront of very much in recent times.
    — Ben Jones Aug. 26, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The move, officials say, gives the mission more heft and eases collaboration with the Navy and Air Force, which are at the forefront of the administration’s campaigns.
    — Megan Rose, ProPublica, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of forefront
Noun
  • Since the late 1990s, taxpayers have been funding a program to stash extra Colorado River water underground, with the idea that it could be used as a backup in times of shortage.
    — Alex Hager, NPR, 31 Aug. 2026
  • On Facebook, discussion groups foster the feeling of a countercultural underground.
    — Ruby Cramer, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of underground
Noun
  • In reality, decades of land abuse and exploitation left behind a scarred terrain uniquely prepared for the arrival of kudzu as a fast-growing pioneer plant.
    — The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The early quantum pioneers didn’t realize — at first — that the arcane math that strikingly captured the conduct of atoms had left the real world behind.
    — Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of pioneer

Browse Nearby Words

vampy
van
vandal
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Cite this Entry

“Van.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/van. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on van

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about van

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