1
as in grandfather
a person who is several generations earlier in an individual's line of descent
Bridie's Irish ancestors immigrated to the United States in the 19th century during the Great Potato Famine
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in forerunner
something belonging to an earlier time from which something else was later developed
pinball machines—the ancestors of today's video games—go back to the 19th century
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of ancestor
This early ancestor and its thumbnails may be key to explaining how rodents eventually took over the world.
—
Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 4 Sep. 2025
There’s a profound respect for ancestors and tradition.
—Big Think, 4 Sep. 2025
But the staff at the Indian Community School were nurturing and respectful while the students learned about their ancestors' heritage.
—Frank Vaisvilas, jsonline.com, 31 Aug. 2025
Our ancestors, by contrast, practiced crop rotation — planting corn one year, beans or wheat the next — maintaining soil health through diversity.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ancestor
Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 4 Sep. 2025
There’s a profound respect for ancestors and tradition.
—Big Think, 4 Sep. 2025
But the staff at the Indian Community School were nurturing and respectful while the students learned about their ancestors' heritage.
—Frank Vaisvilas, jsonline.com, 31 Aug. 2025
Our ancestors, by contrast, practiced crop rotation — planting corn one year, beans or wheat the next — maintaining soil health through diversity.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ancestor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ancestor
Noun
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La Luz del Mundo was founded by Joaquin's grandfather, Eusebio Joaquin Gonzalez, in 1926 and was later led by Joaquin's father, Samuel Joaquin Flores.—
Luc Cohen,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
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This is not your father’s or grandfather’s Atherton High School football program, and never was that more evident than Tuesday’s practice at the school.—
Rich Barak,
Louisville Courier Journal,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Schuyler, who a decade ago sold her company, Epitome Pictures, to DHX Media, a forerunner of Wild Brain Entertainment, was not available for comment on Wednesday.—
Etan Vlessing,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Sep. 2025
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The reactor is the forerunner to the Aalo Pod, a 50-megawatt modular power plant designed specifically for data centers.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Celebrating the assassination of a 31 year old father of two young kids is disturbing; that teachers would be among those who do so is completely unacceptable.—
Amy DeLaura,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
-
His father, a hard-working Russian immigrant and patriotic US bomber pilot, taught him to respect authority.—
Martine Paris,
Forbes.com,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
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And the precursors for that reality may already be in motion, Metzger noted.—
Jackie Wattles,
CNN Money,
12 Sep. 2025
-
After a follow-up period of 7½ years, the team concluded that higher iron levels in two key parts of the brain were linked to a higher risk of mild cognitive impairment, which is typically a precursor to the development of Alzheimer’s dementia.—
Melissa Rudy,
FOXNews.com,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
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He has been put in charge of a fragile minority government prone to challenges, demands and upheaval from parties on both the far left and right — as the ousting of Bayrou and his predecessor, Michel Barnier, less than a year ago, has proven.—
Holly Ellyatt,
CNBC,
10 Sep. 2025
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Fumio Kishida, Ishiba’s direct predecessor, did not visit the shrine, although several of his ministers did, including his Defense Minister Minoru Kihara—the first serving defense chief to visit the shrine on the anniversary of Japan’s surrender.—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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This evolved into a prototype chiefly engineered by Burrell Smith, selecting for its CPU the 8-bit Motorola 6809 as an upgrade from the Apple II's MOS 6502 but still keeping costs low.—
Cameron Kaiser,
ArsTechnica,
12 Sep. 2025
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Working nights in his garage, Trombone built the prototype using personal funds.—
Kapil Kajal,
Interesting Engineering,
12 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ancestor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ancestor. Accessed 15 Sep. 2025.
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