founding father
noun
1
: an originator of an institution or movement : founder
2
often capitalized both Fs
: a leading figure in the founding of the U.S.
specifically
: a member of the American Constitutional Convention of 1787
Synonyms
Examples of founding father in a Sentence
a tribute to Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and the other Founding Fathers
Theodor Herzl is often credited as the founding father of modern Zionism.
Recent Examples on the Web
In the 18th century, the founding fathers focused on the history of Rome, and worried about the decline of the new American republic.
—
TIME, 17 Apr. 2024
Staying in 📺 In the enjoyable ‘Franklin’ on Apple TV+, Michael Douglas plays a flirtatious founding father.
🧑🍳 How to make Michael Twitty’s matzoh ball gumbo, a soup of Black and Jewish cuisines.
—Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024
Douglas adds another quiver to his impressive acting cap as the nimble-witted, immensely quotable inventor, author, publisher and founding father.
—Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 8 Apr. 2024
The common denominator is the gun, often an assault rifle the founding fathers could never have imagined in the day of the musket when the Second Amendment was written.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 16 Feb. 2024
The founding fathers include Schwede of Shawnee; LaMont Eanes of Lenexa; and Jeff Havens, Gary Kidwell and Greg Miller of Overland Park.
—Kimberly Winter Stern, Kansas City Star, 24 Jan. 2024
Lin-Manuel Miranda has written another song about waiting for it — but this time, it's performed by a tween and pubic hairs instead of a founding father.
—Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 19 Oct. 2023
Our founding fathers were careful with war-making powers.
—Christian Schneider, National Review, 21 Dec. 2023
The start: One of America’s founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, is often credited with the daylight saving time idea.
—Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 9 Feb. 2024
TIME, 17 Apr. 2024
Staying in 📺 In the enjoyable ‘Franklin’ on Apple TV+, Michael Douglas plays a flirtatious founding father.
🧑🍳 How to make Michael Twitty’s matzoh ball gumbo, a soup of Black and Jewish cuisines.
—Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024
Douglas adds another quiver to his impressive acting cap as the nimble-witted, immensely quotable inventor, author, publisher and founding father.
—Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 8 Apr. 2024
The common denominator is the gun, often an assault rifle the founding fathers could never have imagined in the day of the musket when the Second Amendment was written.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 16 Feb. 2024
The founding fathers include Schwede of Shawnee; LaMont Eanes of Lenexa; and Jeff Havens, Gary Kidwell and Greg Miller of Overland Park.
—Kimberly Winter Stern, Kansas City Star, 24 Jan. 2024
Lin-Manuel Miranda has written another song about waiting for it — but this time, it's performed by a tween and pubic hairs instead of a founding father.
—Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 19 Oct. 2023
Our founding fathers were careful with war-making powers.
—Christian Schneider, National Review, 21 Dec. 2023
The start: One of America’s founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, is often credited with the daylight saving time idea.
—Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 9 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'founding father.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near founding father
Cite this Entry
“Founding father.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/founding%20father. Accessed 2 May. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share