at first


Initially, at the start, as in At first the berries were green, but when they ripened they turned bright red. [Second half of 1500s]

Words Nearby at first

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use at first in a sentence

  • My attachment to the song became especially pronounced last Christmas, when I had my first love-at-first-sight experience.

    Ave Mariah | Jessi Klein | December 22, 2008 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Even Mr. Seward, cautious and conservative diplomat as he was, at-first "opposed any concession or surrender of the prisoners."

  • It was a sudden smite,—one of those flash-in-the-pan, love-at-first-sight affairs.

    Marion's Faith. | Charles King
  • She recollected her love-at-first-sight for the pretty bride, and well-nigh regarded the friendship as a romance of her girlhood.

    Heartsease | Charlotte M. Yonge
  • And it was always the same round-faced, beamy-looking girl—not Miss Cross-at-first, certainly.

    The Girls and I | Mary Louisa Stewart Molesworth
  • It was—the light was full in her face, and she was frowning just the sort of way I remembered—it was Miss Cross-at-first!

    The Girls and I | Mary Louisa Stewart Molesworth