forebearer

noun

ˈfȯr-ˌber-ər How to pronounce forebearer (audio)
Definition of forebearernext
as in ancestor
a person who is several generations earlier in an individual's line of descent villagers who still practice many of the customs of their forebearers

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of forebearer Mike Brown said the digital driver license is the forebearer of discriminating against the unvaccinated. — Bryan Schott, The Salt Lake Tribune, 8 Feb. 2022 If successful, The Mayflower Autonomous Ship, named in honor of its famous nautical forebearer and known as MAS for short, will be the first such trans-Atlantic voyage by an autonomous vessel. — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 27 Nov. 2021 Quaker Oats retired Aunt Jemima, allowing her real-life forebearer, Nancy Green, to step out of the shadows of a minstrel past. — Thomas Curwen, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2020 Chickamauga is two lakes upstream from Guntersville and other TVA lakes in Alabama, which likely means the fish or their forebearers passed through Alabama waters and that lots of them could still be there. — Frank Sargeant, al, 22 Jan. 2020 Our generation inherited a healthy ocean from our forebearers. — CNN, 24 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forebearer
  1. ancestor
  2. grandfather
  3. father
Noun
  • Essay Get the Lead Out Alex Manley Our ancestors were born to die by predators.
    — Naomi Skwarna, hazlitt.net, 25 Aug. 2026
  • For the last decade, genealogical consultant Grant Din has helped Asian Americans find information about their ancestors, many of whom passed through San Francisco’s Angel Island Immigration Station in the 1900s.
    — Stephanie Lam, Mercury News, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of ancestor
Noun
  • He was further informed that Freya’s grandfather survived the devastating Russian siege of Bucha in 2022.
    — Laurie Kellman, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026
  • His mother had told him a man named Elvin Hunt might have been King’s biological grandfather instead of the person listed as King’s grandfather of record.
    — Tommy Orange, Vulture, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of grandfather
Noun
  • Nuclear Children follows 18-year-old Isla Sparrow who, after the death of her father in a submarine accident, hopes to escape her grieving family and flee to university.
    — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 26 Aug. 2026
  • In the story, Ejva inherits her father’s reindeer herd following his sudden death.
    — Marta Balaga, Variety, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of father

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Cite this Entry

“Forebearer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forebearer. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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