forefront

American  

[fawr-fruhnt, fohr-] / ˈfɔrˌfrʌnt, ˈfoʊr- /

noun

• forefronts
  plural

1. the foremost part or place.

2. the position of greatest importance or prominence.

   in the forefront of today's writers.

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forefront British  

/ ˈfɔːˌfrʌnt /

noun

1. the extreme front

2. the position of most prominence, responsibility, or action

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• forefronts
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of forefront

First recorded in 1425–75, forefront is from the late Middle English word forfrount, forefrount. See fore-, front

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Explanation

If you're at the forefront, you're either the very first to do something or you're in the most important position. Inventing an effective new vaccine would put a scientist at the forefront of modern medicine. The word forefront has been used since the 1600s to mean "front part." Originally, it referred to architecture — you might have commented on the way windows were placed on the forefront of a building, for example. Later, it was used to describe the soldiers at the very front of an advancing army. Today when we talk about the forefront, we usually mean the highest ranking place or position: "She's an amazing comic book artist who's at the forefront of contemporary graphic art."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

forefront forefronts

The refresh, according to Global Managing Partner Alan Mason, reflects the firm’s “ambition to remain at the forefront of law, adapt to changing client needs and help shape the future of legal services.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

Corporate insurers should not be at the forefront of patient care.

From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2026

She explains how trans women DJs are at the forefront of new genres of heavy, beat-driven electronic music in the underground.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

Once a fringe movement, a number of factors pushed it to the forefront of Alberta politics.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

But the Magic Kingdom is at the forefront of the effort to restore life as we knew it.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Though it forefronts Schuyler’s central question — Is the goal of racial progress the ennoblement of Blackness or its disappearance into a “chromatic democracy”? — its tone is jumpy and its storytelling lumpy.

From New York Times ● Feb. 15, 2022

"What we've got here is the failure of talks and the president taking action on forefronts to help for discrete groups," Navarro said.

From Fox News ● Aug. 9, 2020

Riddle’s and Salahuddin’s comedy forefronts the farcical nature of economic struggle, but doesn’t hide the rougher aspects of Englewood life.

From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2019

Indeed, the film’s primary themes are showbiz success and parenting — whether the former creates more problems and the latter often forefronts an inability to solve them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2017

The others will succeed, just as they have succeeded elsewhere on the forefronts of civilization; the pity of it is that their lot may not be made easier, surer.

From In the Oregon Country Out-Doors in Oregon, Washington, and California Together with some Legendary Lore, and Glimpses of the Modern West in the Making by George Palmer Putnam

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Related Words

• cutting edge
• fore
• front line
• leading edge
• limelight
• vanguard

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