ascent
Americannoun
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ascents
plural
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an act of ascending; upward movement; a rising movement.
the ascent of a balloon.
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movement upward from a lower to a higher state, degree, grade, or status; advancement.
His ascent to the governorship came after a long political career.
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the act of climbing or traveling up.
Three climbers attempted the ascent of Mount Rainier.
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the way or means of ascending; upward slope; acclivity.
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a movement or return toward a source or beginning.
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the degree of inclination; gradient.
a steep ascent.
noun
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the act of ascending; climb or upward movement
the ascent of hot gases
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an upward slope; incline or gradient
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movement back through time, as in tracing of earlier generations (esp in the phrase line of ascent )
Usage
What's the difference between ascent and assent? Ascent is a noun that means the act of moving upward (ascending), an upward movement, or upward movement in general. Assent can be a noun meaning agreement, as in I give my assent, or a verb meaning to agree or give in, as in I assent to your terms. The two words are pronounced exactly the same. Perhaps the best way to remember the difference between the two is to think about what related words mean and how they’re spelled. Words related to ascent involve movement and are spelled with sc, including ascend, ascension, descent, descend, and transcend. Words related to assent involve agreement or disagreement and end with -sent, including consent and dissent. Here’s an example of ascent and assent used correctly in a sentence. Example: I asked him if he really wanted to climb the mountain, he gave his assent, and we began our ascent. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between ascent and assent.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of ascent
Explanation
If you are moving in an upward direction, that's an ascent, like your quick ascent from new group member last year to president this year. An ascent, which comes from the Latin word ascendere, meaning "to climb up," is just that: a climb. An ascent can be physical, like an elevator's journey to the top floor, an airplane's upward motion, or your hike up a mountain. Ascent can also be a figurative climb, like a restaurant's dishwasher's whose hard work made his ascent to executive chef possible.
Vocabulary lists containing ascent
Some Tricky Homonyms
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This Week in Words: October 28 - November 3, 2017
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The Glass Menagerie
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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:
Ken Dychtwald, the 76-year-old co-founder and CEO of the AgeWave consulting and research firm, said one challenge as you turn the corner into your 70s is asking yourself: “Is this an ascent or a descent?”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 2026
The ascent of going, “Right, yes, A-game at all times, please.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Will Saturday's mass ascent at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta go ahead?
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Information from the climbers’ trackers showed they stopped their ascent around 9:30 a.m.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Even the Silkworm, looking white and thin and completely exhausted, came creeping out of the tunnel to watch this miraculous ascent.
From "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl
When funds go from first to worst, many people attracted at the latter stages of those ascents bail out and actually lose money.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
It tunneled 435 feet through the mountains for slightly easier descents and ascents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
Harrop and Anselmet clocked a winning time of 26min 57.44sec in the relay, consisting of ascents on skis and sections on foot with skis attached to the backpack.
From Barron's ● Feb. 21, 2026
The mixed team relay sees teams of one man and one woman completing four alternate laps of the course, with two ascents and two descents per lap.
From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2026
During the 1980s Fischer made a number of impressive ascents that earned him a modicum of local renown, but celebrity in the world climbing community eluded him.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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.
