1
as in forerunner
something belonging to an earlier time from which something else was later developed
the abacus is sometimes cited as the archetype of the modern digital calculator
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in original
something from which copies are made
Beowulf is considered by some scholars to be the archetype for medieval British heroic tales
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of archetype
These archetypes prioritize risk tolerance, strategic planning, and transparency, according to OneStream.
—
Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2025
And this character archetype — a man with a gruff exterior but a good heart — would become a through-line for his career.
—Chris Snellgrove, EW.com, 29 Aug. 2025
Oklahoma City Thunder's Chet Holmgren and San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama are two examples of players who perfectly fit this archetype.
—Anthony Pasciolla, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Aug. 2025
Loïs Boisson and Victoria Mboko’s rises have all the hallmarks of a tennis fairytale, the sudden thrust into stardom that constitutes the Cinderella story, one of the most enduring archetypes in sports.
—Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for archetype
Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2025
And this character archetype — a man with a gruff exterior but a good heart — would become a through-line for his career.
—Chris Snellgrove, EW.com, 29 Aug. 2025
Oklahoma City Thunder's Chet Holmgren and San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama are two examples of players who perfectly fit this archetype.
—Anthony Pasciolla, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Aug. 2025
Loïs Boisson and Victoria Mboko’s rises have all the hallmarks of a tennis fairytale, the sudden thrust into stardom that constitutes the Cinderella story, one of the most enduring archetypes in sports.
—Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for archetype
Recent Examples of Synonyms for archetype
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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Rob Reiner — who directed, starred and co-wrote the original with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer — has once again directed the sequel, faithfully playing his role as filmmaker Marty DiBergi, complete with military baseball cap and a director’s viewfinder around his neck.—
Mark Kennedy,
Boston Herald,
12 Sep. 2025
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The performance began with an arrangement fairly faithful to Isbell’s original, with Boone accompanied by just an acoustic guitar.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Her ancestor’s analytic model discouraged self-revelation by the therapist, but Freud often meets her guests’ excavations of desire and vulnerability with her own candid recollections.—
Rebecca Mead,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
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In Rea Rasmussen's case, the process took 18 months and required building genealogical connections back to ancestors born in the 1780s.—
Adeola Adeosun,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 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
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
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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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The Tesla is registered to 20-year-old David Anthony Burke, known professionally as D4vd, according to a senior LAPD source.—
Alex Stone,
ABC News,
10 Sep. 2025
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During more than two hours of testimony, journalist Michael Shellenberger testified that sources had informed him that intelligence communities are in possession of numerous high-resolution photos and videos of the craft unlike any of the grainy imagery that has so far been declassified.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA Today,
10 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Archetype.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/archetype. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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