father 1 of 2

noun

ˈfä-t͟hər How to pronounce father (audio)
Definition of fathernext
1
as in dad
a male human parent the special relationship that exists between fathers and sons

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2
as in founder
a person who establishes a whole new field of endeavor Sir Isaac Newton is regarded by many as the father of modern science

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in grandfather
a person who is several generations earlier in an individual's line of descent our fathers founded this nation on the fundamental belief that no person is entitled to rule by divine right

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in Lord
capitalized the being worshipped as the creator and ruler of the universe let us ask humbly for the blessings of our Father in heaven

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father

2 of 2

verb

as in to sire
to become the father of Paul Revere somehow found room in his small house for the large family he had fathered

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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 father
Noun
Bolsonaro is under investigation over a sports betting case and for probe into the production of a movie about his father Jair Bolsonaro. — ABC News, 27 Oct. 2026 The Icamiabas kept the daughters and gave the sons back to their fathers, preserving the female group. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Oct. 2026
Verb
The analysis found the odds that Jefferson fathered neither Madison Hemings nor Eston Hemings were less than one in 1,000. — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2026 His friend Jaymes Foster, with whom Aiken fathered a son in 2008, came into his bedroom. — Kathleen Perricone, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for father
Recent Examples of Synonyms for father
  1. dad
  2. founder
  3. grandfather
  4. sire
  5. daddy
  6. creator
  7. ancestor
  8. spawn
Noun
  • With their annual Reindeer Roundup holiday event coming up, Meg’s dad gets sidelined after an injury.
    — Rachel LaBonte, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2026
  • His dad had even seen it; a form atop a hill at a local farm, screaming at the moonlight.
    — Joseph States, Chicago Tribune, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of dad
Noun
  • The founders argue that existing air freight networks leave thousands of smaller airports largely unused for commercial cargo transportation.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 30 Oct. 2026
  • The symbiotic relationship between art, opera and fashion anchored a conversation between Torquil McIntosh, cofounder of Sybarite; Tian Hao Jiang, founder and artistic director of the iSing!
    — Denni Hu, Footwear News, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of founder
Noun
  • Two-year-old Bo often joins his grandfather to mend fences or can identify crops by sight in the fields, Tia Barrier said of her son.
    — Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Or travel back in time to Onwuachi’s family home in Trinidad and Tobago, where his grandfather made buljol saltfish salad.
    — Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of grandfather
Verb
  • Breeders could now use genetically valuable Holstein bulls more widely, and through artificial insemination, a single bull could sire more than 50,000 daughters.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Nobody complained when Pitt received the part of Louis de Pointe du Lac, a wealthy plantation owner in the late 18th century whom Lestat would eventually sire after Louis is consumed by grief over the death of his wife and child.
    — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of sire
Noun
  • Is class the best lens for understanding Hitler’s appeal, or is daddy worship?
    — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Still, there’s something to the earnestness with which the movie does finally have its daddy issues and its cetacean ones intersect.
    — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of daddy
Noun
  • The two saw that media companies were overly reliant on social media for distribution, and that profits were flowing to the likes of Facebook rather than to the creators of content.
    — Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Series creator Quinn Shephard made the very good movie Not Okay and has a strong grasp of teenage angst, so The Body seems pretty promising.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of creator
Noun
  • According to family history, DaCosta Levy’s family lineage traced to Portugal, where his ancestors had been mariners — almost certainly Sephardic Jews who scattered across the Atlantic world after the Inquisition.
    — Zachary Kranc, Sun Sentinel, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Government officials previously said that these 11 families split from a common male-line ancestor some 600 years ago, and are now at least 36 degrees of kinship from Naruhito.
    — Chad de Guzman, Time, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of ancestor
Verb
  • In Albania, where anger over development in a nature preserve has spawned an antigovernment movement, protesters hurled Molotov cocktails.
    — The Week US, TheWeek, 26 Oct. 2026
  • The group has also spawned multiple side projects, including 50FootWave and Lakuna.
    — Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of spawn

Phrases Containing father

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father
fathered
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Cite this Entry

“Father.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/father. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about father

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