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Synonyms

outset

American  
[out-set] / ˈaʊtˌsɛt /

noun

  1. the beginning or start.

    I wanted to explain the situation at the outset.

  2. outsert.

outset British  
/ ˈaʊtˌsɛt /

noun

  1. a start; beginning (esp in the phrase from ( or at ) the outset )

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
outset Idioms  

  1. see at the outset.

Etymology

Origin of outset

First recorded in 1530–40; out- + set

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Vocabulary lists containing outset

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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.

Fly-half Holly Aitchison was another player who struggled for starts at the World Cup but was handed the number 10 role from the outset.

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026

In a new report this week, the IMF detailed the economic costs of war, estimating that output in countries where fighting takes place drops by three percent at the outset, "and continues falling for years."

From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026

Fittingly, it starred one of the members of the Bruins’ royal family: a Jaquez hooper stealing her opponents’ souls from the outset.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 5, 2026

From the outset, the justices gave Trump’s solicitor general, John Sauer, a frosty reception.

From Slate • Apr. 1, 2026

At the outset, he shared the university scientist’s traditional antipathy to the patent process, so redolent of commercialism and so distinctly unacademic.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

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.