heir

as in inheritor
a person who has the right to inherit property upon his death, Mr. Parkworth's property was divided evenly among his heirs, four sons and three daughters

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 heir Unlike the other two, Jay is on the younger end of the spectrum and became a billionaire as the heir to a pharmaceutical monopoly. Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 10 Sep. 2025 Campbell’s Soup An heir to the Campbell’s soup fortune, Dorrance lost $600 million in wealth as shares of the company cooled off by 36% over the past year. Gigi Zamora, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025 Royal experts told Fox News Digital that Harry and his brother, Prince William, heir to the British throne, are not on speaking terms. Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 10 Sep. 2025 In Africa, Wagner’s heirs struggle to hold their franchises together, and China and the Gulf states are buying up influence, drawing from far deeper pockets. Jeremy Shapiro, The Atlantic, 10 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for heir
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heir
Noun
  • Though the gardens honor the full Calder lineage, their focus is on the twentieth-century inheritor.
    Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025
  • The very idea of an alliance will be strange and scary to the inheritors of the Non-Aligned Movement, which India helped spearhead during the Cold War.
    KURT M. CAMPBELL, Foreign Affairs, 4 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Trump and allies, meanwhile, often cast him as legatee of Reagan.
    David Jackson, USA TODAY, 8 Sep. 2024
  • Since at least World War I, some legatees of Ivy League privilege have deployed their advantages to oppose injustices and support workers, often against these defectors’ own comfortable families’ and college classmates’ interests, and often at some risk to themselves.
    Jim Sleeper, The New Republic, 4 Sep. 2023
Noun
  • This lineage is a descendant of the Omicron variant of the virus.
    Omer Awan, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025
  • The TinyTV 2 is the descendant of the $75 (as of this writing) TinyTV DIY Kit that came out three years prior.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 28 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • Texas is also home to the richest woman in America, Walmart heiress Alice Walton ($106 billion).
    Ella Malmgren, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
  • The Row has earned industry acclaim, and backing from Chanel owners the Wertheimers as well as L’Oréal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, positioning them firmly among elite American designers.
    WWD Staff, Footwear News, 10 Sep. 2025

Cite this Entry

“Heir.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heir. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.

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