ascend
Americanverb (used without object)
-
ascends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ascended,
past participle, past
-
ascending
present participle
-
to move, climb, or go upward; mount; rise.
The airplane ascended into the clouds.
- Synonyms:
- soar
- Antonyms:
- descend
-
to slant upward.
-
to rise to a higher point, rank, or degree; proceed from an inferior to a superior degree or level.
to ascend to the presidency.
-
to go toward the source or beginning; go back in time.
-
Music. to rise in pitch; pass from any tone to a higher one.
verb (used with object)
-
ascends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ascended,
past participle, past
-
ascending
present participle
-
to go or move upward upon or along; climb; mount.
to ascend a lookout tower;
to ascend stairs.
- Antonyms:
- descend
-
to gain or succeed to; acquire.
to ascend the throne.
verb
-
to go or move up (a ladder, hill, slope, etc); mount; climb
-
(intr) to slope or incline upwards
-
(intr) to rise to a higher point, level, degree, etc
-
to follow (a river) upstream towards its source
-
to trace (a genealogy, etc) back in time
-
to sing or play (a scale, arpeggio, etc) from the lower to higher notes
-
to become king or queen
Synonym Usage
See climb.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ascendsimple
-
ascendssimple
-
have ascendedperfect
-
has ascendedperfect
-
am ascendingprogressive
-
are ascendingprogressive
-
is ascendingprogressive
-
have been ascendingperfect progressive
-
has been ascendingperfect progressive
Past
-
ascendedsimple
-
had ascendedperfect
-
was ascendingprogressive
-
were ascendingprogressive
-
had been ascendingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ascend
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English ascenden, from Anglo-French ascendre, from Latin ascendere “to climb up,” from a- a- 5 + -scendere, combining form of scandere “to climb”
Explanation
To ascend is to move or travel upwards. You can do this literally, like when you ascend to 35,000 feet after your plane takes off, or figuratively, like when you win the lottery and ascend to a higher social class. Riding the escalators in the department store is one way to amuse yourself while your parents shop. You can ascend all the way to the 8th floor, and then descend back to the ground floor. Both ascend and descend come from the Latin verb scandere, which means "to climb." It's the prefixes that make all the difference. The a- of ascend makes the word mean "climb up," while the de- of its antonym makes descend mean "climb down."
Vocabulary lists containing ascend
"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act III
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"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak, Part Six
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But he was about to rapidly ascend in Russia to a position of wealth and influence, with the help of a powerful friend.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
Our tendency to ascend and reach higher places may reflect a deep ancestral relationship with trees that extends beyond anatomy alone.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026
Most climbers choose to ascend from the Nepalese side, but Morup's crew wanted to write their names into the history books as the first Indian expedition to do it from the treacherous Chinese side.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Today one could add dozens of Trump-appointed lower-court judges, of whom Justice Barrett was the first to ascend to the Supreme Court.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
And then Boston tilts away and they ascend effortlessly over a blackened Atlantic.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
As the first plane in their journey ascends, Travolta’s distinct voice no longer feels like he’s narrating for a character.
From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026
As one ascends to the ample and airy interior, the Palisade experience improves considerably.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026
When magma ascends from deep within Earth, it can make the ground shake.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2025
Jim MacLeod, 24, his older brother Glen and a friend had climbed the challenging mountaineer’s route, which ascends the east face.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2025
And a noise like a shrunken scream descends and ascends around us.
From "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" by J.K. Rowling
When Bunch ascended to his top job in 2019, he was celebrated as the first African-American and first historian in the Secretary role—his 13 predecessors all hailed from scientific, business or legal fields.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
King Oyo ascended the throne in 1995 and became an international curiosity because of his young age.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
"I think she has ascended to sainthood now."
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
He also reflected on his career thus far — he quickly ascended to fame in 2019 with his viral hit “Old Town Road” — and teased that new music is on the way.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
He’d heard about people who ascended too quickly and developed nitrogen bubbles in their blood.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
Here are a few of my current “one nice things,” roughly in ascending order of effort:
From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2026
Dyson spent nearly two decades ascending the Coca-Cola management ranks in South America, the Caribbean and Mexico before moving to Atlanta.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
She ended the show as she always does - attached to a harness, ascending into the rafters of the O2 and disappearing.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
Turner played with Donald as a rookie in 2023 and soaked up as much as he could from the eight-time All-Pro before ascending to become a team leader.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
Stone steps ascending endlessly, steep and slick and treacherous, and somewhere at the top, the Shrouded Lord.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
