1
as in grandfathers
a person who is several generations earlier in an individual's line of descent
Bridie's Irish ancestors immigrated to the United States in the 19th century during the Great Potato Famine
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in forerunners
something belonging to an earlier time from which something else was later developed
pinball machines—the ancestors of today's video games—go back to the 19th century
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 ancestors
The Four Freedoms awards are presented in the New Church in Middelburg, in the province of Zeeland, where Roosevelt's ancestors hail from.
—
ABC News, 16 Apr. 2026
Researchers studying a 250-million-year-old fossil have found the first ever proof that mammal ancestors laid eggs, with the discovery also shedding light on a remarkable survival story.
—Jack Guy, CNN Money, 15 Apr. 2026
For the Kukama people, the riverbed is home to their ancestors—and in the face of oil spills, hydrodams, and dredging, Mari Luz Canaquiri Murayari has fought tirelessly to protect this waterway.
—Kyla Mandel, Time, 15 Apr. 2026
According to Wong, the poem was written to commemorate her ancestors who were lost to The Great Leap Forward, the largest famine in human history.
—Mckayla Coyle, Literary Hub, 14 Apr. 2026
The rhythmic music is intended to accompany the departed on their journey to the world of the ancestors.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Apr. 2026
But did the earliest ancestors of mammals also reproduce through eggs?
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 9 Apr. 2026
For our ancestors, that twinkling ball would have been completely dark.
—Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 9 Apr. 2026
His ancestors moved from Mexico City into Chihuahua and then farther north to New Mexico, where his grandfather was born and raised.
—Abbey Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 9 Apr. 2026
ABC News, 16 Apr. 2026
Researchers studying a 250-million-year-old fossil have found the first ever proof that mammal ancestors laid eggs, with the discovery also shedding light on a remarkable survival story.
—Jack Guy, CNN Money, 15 Apr. 2026
For the Kukama people, the riverbed is home to their ancestors—and in the face of oil spills, hydrodams, and dredging, Mari Luz Canaquiri Murayari has fought tirelessly to protect this waterway.
—Kyla Mandel, Time, 15 Apr. 2026
According to Wong, the poem was written to commemorate her ancestors who were lost to The Great Leap Forward, the largest famine in human history.
—Mckayla Coyle, Literary Hub, 14 Apr. 2026
The rhythmic music is intended to accompany the departed on their journey to the world of the ancestors.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Apr. 2026
But did the earliest ancestors of mammals also reproduce through eggs?
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 9 Apr. 2026
For our ancestors, that twinkling ball would have been completely dark.
—Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 9 Apr. 2026
His ancestors moved from Mexico City into Chihuahua and then farther north to New Mexico, where his grandfather was born and raised.
—Abbey Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 9 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ancestors
Noun
-
Her grandfathers were military.—
Seth Abramovitch,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Apr. 2026
-
College-age amateurs competing alongside former champions old enough to be their grandfathers is a longstanding Masters tradition.—
Jack Leo,
AJC.com,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The Norwegian ended his season before the Olympics to further recover from a shoulder injury, but attended the finals as one of the forerunners, who test a course shortly before a race starts.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
22 Mar. 2026
-
These were the forerunners of today’s robots.—
Munis Raza,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Harry closed his Movember appearance with a message to fathers about mental health and the realities of parenthood.—
Megan Hustwaite,
PEOPLE,
15 Apr. 2026
-
Five fathers, including Mendez’s father, Gonzalo, who led the effort, filed the lawsuit in 1945 against school districts in Westminster, Garden Grove, Santa Ana and El Modena, which today falls under the Orange Unified School District.—
Victoria Le,
Oc Register,
14 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Iran also spied on Iraqi positions with rudimentary precursors to drones, an early use of one of the regime’s most effective weapons in its attempt to blockade the strait.—
Sudarsan Raghavan,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2026
-
In March, state media reported that China arrested seven people in an operation targeting traffickers of fentanyl precursors, according to the Reuters news agency.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Sze's predecessors include Joy Harjo, Robert Pinsky and Billy Collins.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
14 Apr. 2026
-
Unlike the official court chronicles commissioned by his predecessors, the first 17 years of the memoir were written in the emperor’s own hand.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
9 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ancestors.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ancestors. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
