Meanings
plural vanguards · alternative obsolete vantguard
- governmentThe leading units at the front of an army or fleet.
They ſay, that the King diuided his Armie into three Battailes; whereof the Vant-guard onely well ſtrengthened with wings, came to fight.
1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC, page 35Synonyms: advance guard, avant, avant-garde, van, vaward · Antonyms: arrière-garde, rearguard
- broadlyThe person or people at the forefront of a group or movement.
The outsiders are looking more like insiders, the vanguard of a cultural and political shift that could be far more profound than in his first presidency.
2025 January 20, Simon Montlake, “‘We’re the majority now’: MAGA returns to Washington, with a whole new vibe”, in The Christian Science Monitor, Boston, Massachusetts: Christian Science Publishing Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 Jan 20252 more examples
By some paradoxical evolution rancour and intolerance have been established in the vanguard of primitive Christianity. Mrs. Spoker, in common with many of the stricter disciples of righteousness, was as inclement in demeanour as she was cadaverous in aspect.
1921, Ben Travers, “The Nest”, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC, part I (“Come He Will”), page 35[O]ne minute this "Jihadi John" was struggling to get by, and get accepted, in drizzly England, unemployed with a mortgage to pay and a chip on his shoulder, and the next he stands in brilliant Levantine sunlight, where everything is clear and etched, at the vanguard of some Sunni Risorgimento intent on subjecting the world to its murderous brand of Wahhabi Islam.
2014 November 17, Roger Cohen, “The Horror! The Horror! The Trauma of ISIS”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 Nov 2014Synonyms: avant-garde, remnant
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe leading units at the front of an army or fleet.
nounThe person or people at the forefront of a group or movement.
More synonyms by meaning
nounany creative group active in the innovation and application of new concepts and techniques in a given field (especially in the arts)
nounthe position of greatest importance or advancement; the leading position in any movement or field
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Frenchavangarde, avant-garde, avantgarde
- Middle Englishvandgard, vaunte garde, vaunt garde, wantgard
- Englishvanguard
From Middle English vandgard, vaunte garde, vaunt garde, wantgard, from advaunte-garde, avauntgard with aphesis, from Old French avangarde, avant-garde, avantgarde, from avant (“before; in front”) + garde (“guard”). Doublet of avant-garde and vaward.
More words from Middle English, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic طَلِيعَة, طَلِيعَة
- طَلِيعَة (ṭalīʕa)leading units of an army
- طَلِيعَة (ṭalīʕa)forefront of any group or movement
Bulgarian аванга́рд, аванга́рд
- аванга́рд (avangárd)leading units of an army
- аванга́рд (avangárd)forefront of any group or movement
Catalan avantguarda, avantguarda
- avantguardaleading units of an army
- avantguardaforefront of any group or movement
Chinese Mandarin 先鋒 /先锋, 先頭部隊 /先头部队
- 先鋒 /先锋 (xiānfēng)leading units of an army
- 先頭部隊 /先头部队 (xiāntóu bùduì)leading units of an army
- 尖兵 (jiānbīng)leading units of an army
- 前衛 /前卫 (qiánwèi)leading units of an army
- 先鋒 /先锋 (xiānfēng)forefront of any group or movement
- 先驅 /先驱 (xiānqū)forefront of any group or movement
- 前沿 (qiányán)forefront of any group or movement
Czech předvoj, předvoj
- předvojleading units of an army
- předvojforefront of any group or movement
- avantgardaforefront of any group or movement
Danish fortrop
- fortropleading units of an army
Dutch voorhoede, voorhoede
- voorhoedeleading units of an army
- voorhoedeforefront of any group or movement
Esperanto avano
- avanoleading units of an army
Finnish etujoukot, etujoukko
- etujoukotleading units of an army
- etujoukkoforefront of any group or movement
- edelläkävijätforefront of any group or movement
- suunnannäyttäjätforefront of any group or movement
French avant-garde, avant-garde
- avant-gardeleading units of an army
- avant-gardeforefront of any group or movement
German Vorhut, Avantgarde
- Vorhutleading units of an army
- Avantgardeforefront of any group or movement
- Spitzeforefront of any group or movement
Greek εμπροσθοφυλακή, πρωτοπορία
- εμπροσθοφυλακή (emprosthofylakí)leading units of an army
- πρωτοπορία (protoporía)forefront of any group or movement
- αβάν-γκαρντ (aván-gkarnt)forefront of any group or movement
Hebrew חיל החלוץ
- חיל החלוץleading units of an army
Irish urgharda
- urghardaleading units of an army
Italian avanguardia, prima linea
- avanguardialeading units of an army
- prima linealeading units of an army
Japanese 前衛
- 前衛 (zen'ei)leading units of an army
Korean 전위, 선봉
- 전위 (jeonwi)leading units of an army
- 선봉 (seonbong)forefront of any group or movement
Latvian avangards, priekšpulks
- avangardsleading units of an army
- priekšpulksleading units of an army
- avangardsforefront of any group or movement
- priekšpulksforefront of any group or movement
Māori pīpī, hāpai
- pīpīleading units of an army
- hāpaiforefront of any group or movement
Norwegian fortropp, banebryter
- fortroppleading units of an army
- banebryterforefront of any group or movement
- avantgardeforefront of any group or movement
Persian یزک, طلایه
- یزک (yazak)leading units of an army
- طلایه (talâye)leading units of an army
- پیشگام (pišgâm)leading units of an army
- پیشتاز (pištâz)leading units of an army
- پیشگام (pišgâm)forefront of any group or movement
- پیشتاز (pištâz)forefront of any group or movement
Polish awangarda, straż przednia
- awangardaleading units of an army
- straż przednialeading units of an army
Portuguese vanguarda, anteguarda
- vanguardaleading units of an army
- anteguardaleading units of an army
- vanguardaforefront of any group or movement
Romanian avangardă, antegardă
- avangardăleading units of an army
- antegardăleading units of an army
- avangardăforefront of any group or movement
Russian аванга́рд, аванга́рд
- аванга́рд (avangárd)leading units of an army
- аванга́рд (avangárd)forefront of any group or movement
Scottish Gaelic toiseach, toiseach
- toiseachleading units of an army
- toiseachforefront of any group or movement
Slovak predvoj, predvoj
- predvojleading units of an army
- predvojforefront of any group or movement
- avantgardaforefront of any group or movement
Spanish vanguardia, vanguardia
- vanguardialeading units of an army
- vanguardiaforefront of any group or movement
Swedish förtrupp, tät
- förtruppleading units of an army
- tätforefront of any group or movement
Tagalog taliba
- talibaleading units of an army
Tamil முன்னணி, முன்னணி
- முன்னணி (muṉṉaṇi)leading units of an army
- முன்னணி (muṉṉaṇi)forefront of any group or movement
Thai แนวหน้า
- แนวหน้า (nɛɛo-nâa)forefront of any group or movement
Ukrainian аванга́рд
- аванга́рд (avanhárd)leading units of an army
Vietnamese tiền phong, tiên phong
- tiền phongleading units of an army
- tiên phongleading units of an army
- tiền phongforefront of any group or movement
- tiên phongforefront of any group or movement
Yiddish אַוואַנגאַרד
- אַוואַנגאַרד (avangard)leading units of an army
Cite this entry
vanguard. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vanguard
“vanguard.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vanguard. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “vanguard,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vanguard.
Source: vanguard on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.