vanguard

American  

[van-gahrd] / ˈvænˌgɑrd /

noun

• vanguards
  plural

1. the foremost division or the front part of an army; advance guard; van.

2. the forefront in any movement, field, activity, or the like.

3. the leaders of any intellectual or political movement.

4. (initial capital letter) a U.S. three-stage, satellite-launching rocket, the first two stages powered by liquid-propellant engines and the third by a solid-propellant engine.

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vanguard British  

/ ˈvænˌɡɑːd /

noun

1. the leading division or units of a military force

2. the leading position in any movement or field, or the people who occupy such a position

   the vanguard of modern literature

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• vanguards
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vanguard

First recorded in 1480–90; earlier van(d)gard(e), from Middle French avangarde, variant of avant-garde; see avaunt, guard

Explanation

If you are in the vanguard, you're up front. It could be that you are in the vanguard of an advancing army, or in the vanguard of any movement, trend, or occupation. Vanguard is an old variation of the French word avant-garde meaning "fore-guard" or "front guard." Vanguard and avant-garde have the same basic meaning, but avant-garde generally describes artistic endeavors, while vanguard can be more widely applied. You might talk about the vanguard of fashion on the red carpet, the vanguard of medical research at a university, or the vanguard of a political movement at a demonstration.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vanguard vanguards

Sumner was a radical Republican on the vanguard of the anti-slavery movement, and as an abolitionist, he was fighting to rewrite the Constitution using Frederick Douglass’ language.

From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026

She spoke to De Los about her pleasure-seeking ethos and Argentina’s alt-pop vanguard.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

Four years later, women's cricket hit the big time and Beaumont was at the vanguard.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

Kudryashev’s short stint last year in the vanguard of Russia’s army offers a glimpse of the tactics that Russia is employing to eke out battlefield advances in Ukraine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

Given that Russia was at this point at the very vanguard of modernism it was a bitter pill to swallow, and understandably so.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

And it found him in the person of Yevgeny Prigozhin, one of those quixotic, improbable adventurers who, over the past two centuries, have served as the vanguards of new forms of empire.

From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2023

From the beginning it was called "the experiment" and the children were referred to as "vanguards", says Mr Jensen.

From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2022

It may not yield immediate results, but it would put Pyongyang on notice that the vanguards of international civil society stand in solidarity with the abused, not the abusers.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 26, 2015

Waving rainbow signs and urging love and acceptance, they marched at the front of the line, vanguards of a new movement of Mormons challenging their church’s staunch opposition to homosexuality.

From New York Times ● Jun. 12, 2012

Our present spaceships, with their robot crews, are the harbingers, the vanguards of future human expeditions to the planets.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan