inaugurate
verb
transitive verb
Synonyms
- begin
- constitute
- establish
- found
- initiate
- innovate
- institute
- introduce
- launch
- pioneer
- plant
- set up
- start
Example Sentences
Zach Wichter, USA TODAY, 29 July 2022 Abigail Brocwell was expected to inaugurate this year's Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival Aug. 18 with the ceremonial first bite of sausage. Gere Goble, The Enquirer, 26 Aug. 2022 Travel is the perfect opportunity to inaugurate a new chapter in your life. Katie Kelly Bell, Forbes, 11 Aug. 2022 Finally, in 2003, Bosnian Serb authorities relented under pressure and allowed the survivors to inaugurate the memorial cemetery for the victims in the town. Sabina Niksic, ajc, 9 July 2022 Xi Jinping stands with Hong Kong's new Chief Executive John Lee during a ceremony to inaugurate the city's new government in Hong Kong on Friday. Jennifer Jett, NBC News, 1 July 2022 That’s especially true this year, as the festivities helped inaugurate a new building in the heart of downtown, the Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus. Zachariah Hughes, Anchorage Daily News, 11 June 2022 Ninety-six-year-old Queen Elizabeth II appeared at Paddington Station to inaugurate the new transit line and wore bright yellow for the big day. Lilit Marcus, CNN, 21 May 2022 The new group Friends of Georgia Radio will be holding its inaugural bash Aug. 27 hosted by Jeff Foxworthy and will celebrate 100 years of Georgia radio and inaugurate the first class of radio legends. Rodney Ho, ajc, 7 June 2022 See More Word History
Latin inauguratus, past participle of inaugurare, literally, to practice augury, from in- + augurare to augur; from the rites connected with augury
1606, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
inaugurate
verb
inaugurate
verb
Synonyms & Similar Words
- establish
- initiate
- launch
- pioneer
- introduce
- institute
- create
- found
- begin
- construct
- constitute
- plant
- start
- organize
- innovate
- invent
- originate
- devise
- develop
- manufacture
- father
- author
- produce
- concoct
- set up
- fund
- conceive
- contrive
- endow
- expand
- finance
- systematize
- arrange
- make up
- enlarge
- subsidize
- fabricate
- reinstitute
- relaunch
- systemize
- reinitiate
- cook (up)
- refound
- think (up)
- put up
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- abolish
- close (down)
- shut (up)
- annul
- annihilate
- nullify
- stop
- terminate
- end
- halt
- finish
- phase out
- round (off or out)
- wind up
- wrap up
Synonyms & Similar Words
- induct
- initiate
- install
- instate
- baptize
- seat
- invest
- receive
- consecrate
- enshrine
- enlist
- accept
- enroll
- enrol
- swear in
- admit
- take in
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- terminate
- can
- discharge
- fire
- muster out
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of inaugurate are begin, commence, initiate, start, and usher in. While all these words mean "to take the first step in a course, process, or operation," inaugurate suggests a beginning of some formality or notion of significance.
Begin, start, and commence are often interchangeable, with begin, opposed to end, being the most general.
Commence can be more formal or bookish than begin or start.
The words initiate and inaugurate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, initiate implies taking a first step in a process or series that is to continue.
In some situations, the words start and inaugurate are roughly equivalent. However, start, opposed to stop, applies especially to first actions, steps, or stages.
Usher in is somewhat less weighty than inaugurate.