Academic Dictionary
Home / Thesaurus / Vanguard
Find the word that fits

Vanguard: alternatives and connections

Begin with the reviewed alternatives, then explore broader connections without treating every related word as an automatic substitute.

Try an example: important law show help change happy
26,102 words currently have published synonym-style alternatives
90,593 searchable synonym connections
350,924 published thesaurus relationships of every type
Start with the meaning

Vanguard

The troops who march in front of an army; the advance guard; the van.

View the full dictionary entry Compare this word with another →
43 useful connections shown 4 reviewed relationships and 39 broader connections.
Best place to begin

Reviewed alternatives and contrasts

These links were deliberately created. Use the interchangeability score and guidance to judge whether a word will work in your sentence.

Broader term 3

Perspective 76% connected

Of or pertaining to the science of vision; optical.

oewn 2023 0% interchangeable

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a broader lexical category for at least one sense.

Definition Compare both words
Position 76% connected

The state of being posited, or placed; the manner in which anything is placed; attitude; condition; as, a firm, an inclined, or an upright position.

oewn 2023 0% interchangeable

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a broader lexical category for at least one sense.

Definition Compare both words
View 76% connected

The act of seeing or beholding; sight; look; survey; examination by the eye; inspection.

oewn 2023 0% interchangeable

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a broader lexical category for at least one sense.

Definition Compare both words

Synonym 1

Van 92% connected

The front of an army; the first line or leading column; also, the front line or foremost division of a fleet, either in sailing or in battle.

oewn 2023 68% interchangeable

Open English WordNet places these words in at least one shared synset. They share a lexicalised sense, but context, register and collocation should still be checked before substitution.

Definition Compare both words
Explore further

Words connected by meaning

Their definitions overlap or refer to similar ideas. Use these to widen your search, then compare the exact meanings.

Advance adjective · 78% connection

Before in place, or beforehand in time; -- used for advanced; as, an advance guard, or that before the main guard or body of an army;…

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: troops, march, front, army, advance.
Definition Compare
Advancement verb · 78% connection

An advance of money or value; payment in advance. See Advance, 5.

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: troops, march, front, army, advance.
Definition Compare
Annoy noun · 78% connection

To molest, incommode, or harm; as, to annoy an army by impeding its march, or by a cannonade.

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: troops, march, front, army, advance.
Definition Compare
Antero- unknown · 78% connection

A combining form meaning anterior, front; as, antero-posterior, front and back; antero-lateral, front side, anterior and at the side.

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: troops, march, front, army, advance.
Definition Compare
Battalion noun · 78% connection

A body of troops; esp. a body of troops or an army in battle array.

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: troops, march, front, army, advance.
Definition Compare
Bivouac verb · 78% connection

To watch at night or be on guard, as a whole army.

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: troops, march, front, army, advance.
Definition Compare
Blackguard noun · 78% connection

The scullions and lower menials of a court, or of a nobleman's household, who, in a removal from one residence to another, had charge…

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: troops, march, front, army, advance.
Definition Compare
Countermarch noun · 78% connection

An evolution by which a body of troops change front or reverse the direction of march while retaining the same men in the front rank;…

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: troops, march, front, army, advance.
Definition Compare
Crawl verb · 78% connection

To advance slowly and furtively; to insinuate one's self; to advance or gain influence by servile or obsequious conduct.

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: troops, march, front, army, advance.
Definition Compare
Defile noun · 78% connection

Any narrow passage or gorge in which troops can march only in a file, or with a narrow front; a long, narrow pass between hills, rocks…

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: troops, march, front, army, advance.
Definition Compare
Deploy v. t. & i. · 78% connection

To open out; to unfold; to spread out (a body of troops) in such a way that they shall display a wider front and less depth; -- the re…

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: troops, march, front, army, advance.
Definition Compare
Encamp verb · 78% connection

To form and occupy a camp; to prepare and settle in temporary habitations, as tents or huts; to halt on a march, pitch tents, or form…

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: troops, march, front, army, advance.
Definition Compare
Escort noun · 78% connection

A body of armed men to attend a person of distinction for the sake of affording safety when on a journey; one who conducts some one as…

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: troops, march, front, army, advance.
Definition Compare
Flanker noun · 78% connection

One who, or that which, flanks, as a skirmisher or a body of troops sent out upon the flanks of an army toguard a line of march, or a…

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: troops, march, front, army, advance.
Definition Compare
Forestall verb · 78% connection

To take possession of, in advance of some one or something else, to the exclusion or detriment of the latter; to get ahead of; to preo…

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: troops, march, front, army, advance.
Definition Compare
Front verb · 78% connection

To adorn in front; to supply a front to; as, to front a house with marble; to front a head with laurel.

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: troops, march, front, army, advance.
Definition Compare
Grenadier noun · 78% connection

Originaly, a soldier who carried and threw grenades; afterward, one of a company attached to each regiment or battalion, taking post o…

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: troops, march, front, army, advance.
Definition Compare
March noun · 78% connection

The distance passed over in marching; as, an hour's march; a march of twenty miles.

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: troops, march, front, army, advance.
Definition Compare
All dictionary tools

Explore Academic Dictionary

The same nine destinations available from the header menu are shown here as a clear, fully visible grid.

Dictionary Definitions and meanings Thesaurus Synonyms with nuance Academic writing Evidence and analysis Professional Workplace vocabulary Word origins Etymology and roots Subjects Specialist dictionaries Word clusters Connected vocabulary Word similarity Compare two words Crossword Play with vocabulary