ascent
Americannoun
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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:
SpaceX will aspire the next time around to execute a launch, ascent, stage separation, boostback burn and landing burn of the booster offshore without hiccups.
From Barron's ● Jul. 16, 2026
You can’t, because the ascent has a thousand teachers, and the descent has almost none.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 16, 2026
The cost of living crisis of the 2020s further fuelled its ascent.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
Jovic is aware Sunday’s match is a massive opportunity to prove her rapid ascent is no fluke and flip the script on her head-to-head deficit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
Even so, as the helicopter took off, Rowan had a sinking feeling deep in the pit of his stomach that had nothing to do with their ascent.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
The 12 teams of two had to negotiate two ascents plus a steep section of steps on foot with skis attached to the backpack.
From Barron's ● Feb. 21, 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
On the course, there are two ascents on skis plus sections on foot, and two descents.
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2026
Teams of male and female competitors will race on longer courses than the sprints, with two ascents and two descents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2026
And to meet the demand, the number of commercial enterprises peddling guided ascents of the Seven Summits, especially Everest, has multiplied correspondingly.
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.
