Word.ws English Dictionary

onward

Syllables: on·ward/ˈɑnwɚd/UK/ˈɒnwəd/

onward adjective: moving forward.

Adjective

onward (comparative more onward, superlative most onward)

  1. (not comparable) Moving forward.
    • There was an onward rush as the gates opened.
  2. Advanced in a forward direction or toward an end.
    • Within a while, Philoxenus came to see how onward the fruits were of his friend's labour.a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London...

Adverb

onward (not comparable)

  1. In a forward direction.
    • […] yonder cloud
      That rises upward always higher,
      ⁠And onward drags a labouring breast,
      ⁠And topples round the dreary west,
      A looming bastion fringed with fire.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 24
    • Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war...1871, “Onward, Christian Soldiers”, Sabine Baring-Gould (lyrics)
    Synonyms:
    onwards, forth

Verb

onward (third-person singular simple present onwards, present participle onwarding, simple past and past participle onwarded)

  1. (intransitive) To keep going; to progress or persevere.
    • The aim of the preacher who in the best sense would be up-to-date should comprize the homiletic method which, while following in a degree the example of the fathers, tries to formulate truth in clear and philosophical statements, not essaying a muddy theology or priding itself on a vague, vacuous...1907 March, C.A.S. Dwight, “The Concrete and the Idea”, in The Homiletic Review, volume 53, number 3, page 199
    • Or of Kismet (?): whatever happens is pre-ordained, and one can "pass the buck" to something outside of oneself; to Allah, the inscrutable, I suppose, gaining one's spiritual calm from the feeling that the eternal onwardness is calmly onwarding; until little pain and little happiness become spread...2010, William Davies King, Another Part of a Long Story, page 129
  2. (transitive) To pass (something) onward; to forward.
    • The application has been delivered to the Nanking department of the Waichiaopu on January 19th for being kindly onwarded to Chungking.1946 February 6, Karl Koesting, Letter from Karl Koesting to T.V. Soong
    • It is unfair to saddle Italy with persons rejected for immigration to the U.S., especially since these persons were allowed to enter Italy on the understanding that they would be immigrating to the U.S. Italy has been cooperative in every way possible in allowing persons to transit the country for...1982, Report on the 49th Council Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for Migration in Geneva and Refugee Matters in Austria and Italy, page 28

onward meaning in Tamil, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali

onward in Tamil

முன்னோக்கிய

onward in Marathi

In a forward direction
पुढे puḍhe

onward in Urdu

آگے, آگے بڑھتا ہوا

onward in Bengali

সম্মুখগামী, সামনের দিকে চলমান, পরিচালিত, ক্রমাগত অগ্রসরমান, অব্যাহতভাবে চলতে থাকা, সামনের দিকে
More languagesFewer languages
onward in Malayalam
മുന്നോട്ട് munnōṭṭŭ
onward in Kannada
ಇನ್ನೂ ಮುಂದಿನ, ಮುಂದಣ, ಮುಂದುವರೆಯುವ, ಮುಂದಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಗುತ್ತಿರುವ
onward in Arabic
إِلَى الْأَمَام ʔilā l-ʔamām

Examples of onward in a sentence

  • A few more freshly pressed folk were in this line, and looked upon us with a mix of disgruntletude and admiration as we, led by me, onwarded directly up to what appeared to be a maître'd's stand.2014, Tanuja Desai Hidier, Bombay Blues:
  • Italy has been cooperative in every way possible in allowing persons to transit the country for onwarding processing.1982, Report on the 49th Council Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for Migration in Geneva and Refugee Matters in Austria and...
  • We took the lot and patched them up before onwarding them back .2019, John Broom, Faithful in Adversity:

All 40 example sentences with onward

Synonyms of onward

Forms of onward

Adjective
comparativemore onward
superlativemost onward
Verb
third-person singular presentonwards
present participleonwarding
past participleonwarded
pastonwarded

Origin of onward

From on + -ward.

Words formed from onward

Questions about onward

What does onward mean?
Onward means moving forward.
What is onward in Tamil?
Onward in Tamil is முன்னோக்கிய. See Onward meaning in Tamil.
How do you use onward in a sentence?
A few more freshly pressed folk were in this line, and looked upon us with a mix of disgruntletude and admiration as we, led by me, onwarded directly up to what appeared to be a maître'd's stand.
What part of speech is onward?
Onward can be an adjective, an adverb or a verb.
How do you pronounce onward?
Onward is pronounced /ˈɒnwəd/ (UK).

Words near onward in the dictionary

  1. onuphids
  2. Onuphrius
  3. onus
  4. onus probandi
  5. onuses
  6. onward
  7. onward and upward
  8. onwarded
  9. onwarding
  10. onwardly
  11. onwardness

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: onward (page history and authors); onward (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); onward (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); onward (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); മുന്നോട്ട് (Malayalam) (page history and authors); onward (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vininn126-onward.wav.

Cite this entry: “onward.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/onward. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.