1
as in commenced
to take the first step in (a process or course of action)
she began walking to work for exercise
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in started
to come into existence
the storm began late in the day and lasted all night
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in founded
to be responsible for the creation and early operation or use of
the religious sect was begun by a small breakaway faction
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of begun
The way his mind had begun to shuffle through worst-case scenarios was something Sutton-Schulman hadn’t witnessed before.
—
Duaa Eldeib, ProPublica, 10 Sep. 2025
Some regions of the United States are experiencing higher rates of positive COVID-19 tests than others, though reporting has slowed down enough nationwide that the CDC has begun allowing more time to pass between certain types of updates, such as those on variant prevalence.
—Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2025
Some states have now begun passing similar legislation for certain types of asthma medication.
—Ana Santos Rutschman, The Conversation, 9 Sep. 2025
PBMs have also begun launching their own biosimilars, in partnership with manufacturers, creating additional market-access barriers for independent biosimilar manufacturers.
—Ge Bai, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
Surprisingly, the analysis also suggested that the genus-level extinction rates appear to have begun declining, with the fastest extinction rates occurring in the decades 1870s, 1890s and 1900s.
—Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2025
But make no mistake about this, the mourning process for this franchise has begun.
—Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 9 Sep. 2025
Recently, Judge has begun to heat up again.
—Zach Pressnell, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Sep. 2025
Ayden and Jessica had begun exploring filmmaking before the Washburns moved in; the sisters helped round out the cast and crew for these projects.
—Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 2 Sep. 2025
Duaa Eldeib, ProPublica, 10 Sep. 2025
Some regions of the United States are experiencing higher rates of positive COVID-19 tests than others, though reporting has slowed down enough nationwide that the CDC has begun allowing more time to pass between certain types of updates, such as those on variant prevalence.
—Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2025
Some states have now begun passing similar legislation for certain types of asthma medication.
—Ana Santos Rutschman, The Conversation, 9 Sep. 2025
PBMs have also begun launching their own biosimilars, in partnership with manufacturers, creating additional market-access barriers for independent biosimilar manufacturers.
—Ge Bai, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
Surprisingly, the analysis also suggested that the genus-level extinction rates appear to have begun declining, with the fastest extinction rates occurring in the decades 1870s, 1890s and 1900s.
—Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2025
But make no mistake about this, the mourning process for this franchise has begun.
—Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 9 Sep. 2025
Recently, Judge has begun to heat up again.
—Zach Pressnell, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Sep. 2025
Ayden and Jessica had begun exploring filmmaking before the Washburns moved in; the sisters helped round out the cast and crew for these projects.
—Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 2 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for begun
Verb
-
Last year, 39-year-old Kendra Frazer was found dead just hours before the festival commenced.—
Ryan Coleman,
EW.com,
1 Sep. 2025
-
And despite holding a groundbreaking ceremony last September, building still has not commenced on a 120-bed behavioral health facility on the campus of Palomar Medical Center in Escondido.—
Paul Sisson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
31 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
And to round things out, a couple volleyball-centric stories, as the Cards started their 2025 campaign last week.—
Payton Titus,
Louisville Courier Journal,
4 Sep. 2025
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Bhutia quit his corporate life and started a cloud kitchen in 2023.—
Priyanka Salve,
CNBC,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Gemini was founded by the Winklevoss twins in 2014 and holds more than $21 billion of assets on its platform as of the end of July.—
Tanaya Macheel,
CNBC,
9 Sep. 2025
-
France’s Fifth Republic, founded by President Charles de Gaulle in 1958, was designed to end the chronic instability that had plagued the Third and Fourth Republics earlier in the 20th century.—
Saskya Vandoorne,
CNN Money,
9 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
There’s a lot of beauty and thought that actually originated here.—
Vogue Runway,
Vogue,
4 Sep. 2025
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The fire is thought to have originated from natural causes.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Meanwhile, social occasions might be canceled or initiated.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
6 Sep. 2025
-
My dad, who was on AT&T, initiated the same test, and the Skylo phone still received one SMS message out of order as well.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
There isn’t an active market, like there is for shares in public companies, and issues have arisen in other sports.—
Jesse Silvertown,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
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There have been plenty of other scenarios proposed for how these supermassive black holes could have arisen, and all of them are even more problematic than the direct collapse scenario.—
Ethan Siegel,
Big Think,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
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And October’s jobs numbers, reported just days before the election, constituted the worst month for jobs since the pandemic.—
David Goldman,
CNN Money,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Two Brits, one American, and an Indian Forestry Official constituted our team (the Coast Guard refused to help).—
Suwanna Gauntlett Upjohn,
Forbes.com,
31 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Sean Payton‘s been the Broncos head coach for just over two years now.—
Parker Gabriel,
Denver Post,
1 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Begun.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/begun. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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