incipient
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of incipient
1580–90; < Latin incipient- (stem of incipiēns, present participle of incipere to take in hand, begin), equivalent to in- in- 2 + -cipi- (combining form of capi- take) + -ent- -ent
Explanation
Incipient means something is in an early stage of existence. In its incipient form, basketball was played with a soccer ball and peach baskets for goals. Bouncy orange balls and nets came later. Incipient comes from the Latin incipere "to begin." The related, and more commonly used, word inception means the beginning or the start. It is important to note that when something is in an incipient stage, there is a chance it will never come to completion. So be on the lookout for incipient trouble or an incipient crisis — you might be able to prevent it from happening.
Vocabulary lists containing incipient
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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.
Letter Cresset External link April 16: Recent troubling private-credit headlines prompted market Cassandras to proclaim an incipient credit crisis.
From Barron's ● Apr. 17, 2026
"We kept seeing incipient problems which I thought were not being tackled properly, and indeed I thought the problems were getting worse," he told the House of Commons committee.
From BBC ● Nov. 24, 2025
He also signals, with chapters on highway-building, housing and incipient suburbanization, new forces that would radically reshape both the cityscape and patterns of living.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
In 2018, as Adams begins to plan for his incipient mayoral campaign, a Turkish promoter reaches out to an Adams staffer with a straw-donor strategy.
From Slate ● Sep. 26, 2024
Then they caught Jody’s scent, and their stiff tails rose up and waved a greeting—Doubletree Mutt with the big thick tail, and Smasher, the incipient shepherd—then went lazily back to their warm beds.
From "The Red Pony" by John Steinbeck
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.
