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pioneer has 5 distinct synonyms spread across 3 of its 5 senses. Each sense below keeps its own list, because a synonym belongs to a meaning and not to a word: swapping one sense's substitute into another sense's sentence is how a thesaurus makes writing worse. WordNet records no antonym for it — antonymy is a relation between word forms rather than concepts, so it is deliberately sparse.
Counts are distinct word forms across every sense. A synonym that appears under three senses is counted once here and shown three times below, under each sense it belongs to.
take the lead or initiative in; participate in the development of
“This South African surgeon pioneered heart transplants”
Synonyms, antonyms and the broader and narrower relations for pioneer come from Princeton University’s WordNet. Full sources and licences.
open up and explore a new area
“pioneer space”
someone who helps to open up a new line of research or technology or art
one of the first colonists or settlers in a new territory
“they went west as pioneers with only the possessions they could carry with them”