Word.ws English Dictionary

Synonyms of dawn

24 similar words · 1 opposite word

Another word for dawn is sunrise. Other synonyms of dawn are sunlight, daybreak, break, daylight and cockcrow. The opposite of dawn is dusk.

Synonyms and similar words for dawn

verbTo start to appear or become obvious.

  • glimpseTo appear or start to appear, especially faintly or unclearly; to dawn.

nounThe rising of the sun.

  • break of dawnDaybreak.
  • break of dayDaybreak.
  • daybreakThe beginning of the day; the first moment of daylight.
  • day-dawnThe rising of the sun; the time when the sun rises.
  • dayspringThe beginning of the day, or first appearance of light; the dawn; daybreak.
  • sunriseThe time of day when the sun appears above the eastern horizon.

nounThe time when the sun rises.

  • crack of dawnThe first moment of daylight; the instant at which sunrise begins.

nounThe earliest phase of something.

nounMore synonyms

  • ass crack of dawn Canada, USAn intensifier, used in the same contexts as crack of dawn, but more intense.
  • breakThe beginning (of the morning).
  • butt crack of dawn Canada, USAn intensifier, used in the same contexts as crack of dawn, but more intense.
  • cockcrowThe time of day at which the first crow of a cockerel is heard; dawn or daybreak; first light.
  • daylightDaybreak.
  • first lightThe time when light first appears in the morning; dawn, especially the start of dawn.
  • lauds
  • sparrow-fart Australia, UKA time very early in the day; dawn.
  • sun literary
  • sunlightSynonym of sunrise.
  • sunup USThe time of day when the sun appears above the eastern horizon.
  • solrise rareThe time of day when Sol, the sun in the Solar System, appears to rise over a planet's horizon.
  • sunrising obsoleteSunrise, daybreak.

Opposite of dawn

nounMore antonyms

Meaning of dawn

  1. verb To begin to brighten with daylight.
  2. verb To start to appear or become obvious.
  3. verb To begin to give promise; to begin to appear or to expand.

Full definition of dawn

dawn in other languages

Questions about synonyms of dawn

What is another word for dawn?
Dawn has 24 synonyms on Word.ws, such as sunrise, sunlight, daybreak, break, daylight and cockcrow.
What is the opposite of dawn?
The opposite of dawn is dusk.
What does dawn mean?
Dawn means to begin to brighten with daylight.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dawn (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “Synonyms of dawn.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/dawn. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.