forefather
noun
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Definition of forefather
2 : a person of an earlier period and common heritage
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Synonyms & Antonyms for forefather
Synonyms
ancestor, father, forebear (also forbear), forebearer, grandfather, primogenitor, progenitor
Antonyms
descendant (also descendent)
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Examples of forefather in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The foundation of the Bullet Club was built of the shoulders of legendary forefathers Finn Balor and AJ Styles. — Justin Barrasso, SI.com, "The Week in Wrestling: Tama Tonga Says Bullet Club Civil War ‘Has Been a Long Time Coming’," 11 July 2018 Boissonnault told the story of his forefathers, who first landed in Canada in 1642. — Alan Gomez, USA TODAY, "Canada warns immigrants in U.S. about heading north of the border," 8 June 2018 If that’s cause for eviction, our forefathers might never have sat in the same room together. — Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press, "Mitch Albom: The ricochet effect of public shaming now on full display," 30 June 2018 In other words, just following what our forefathers intended, and not trying to reinterpret that or add to that? — Fox News, "Sen. Rand Paul: Supreme Court vote will be divided along party lines," 28 June 2018 Since July celebrates America’s birthday, why not commemorate in the city where our forefathers made history. — Stephanie Toone, ajc, "5 last-minute Atlanta travel deals for July," 19 June 2018 The two-in-one show sometimes coasted on a lot of nostalgia, including audience-baiting résumé shout-outs and a salute to other hip-hop forefathers during the Melle Mel and Scorpio set that culminated with a dance break soundtracked by Run-DMC. — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Best and worst of Summerfest Day 2: Marshmello, Nelly, Tory Lanez, Buckcherry and more," 28 June 2018 Some scholars believe that the confederacy served as a model for the forefathers who crafted the United States government. — New York Times, "A Story of Survival Revived by the Cicadas’ Loud (and Crunchy) Return," 22 June 2018 But the forefather of this new genre of show is The New York Times podcast The Daily, which launched in January 2017 and now gets 1.1 million downloads every weekday. — Eric Johnson, Recode, "Michael Barbaro explains why The Daily podcast doesn’t cover Donald Trump’s tweets," 18 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'forefather.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for forefather
forefather
noun
English Language Learners Definition of forefather
: a person (especially a man) who was in your family in past times
: a person (especially a man) from an earlier time who helped to create or start something modern or important
See the full definition for forefather in the English Language Learners Dictionary
forefather
noun
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Kids Definition of forefather
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