Synonyms of ancestors

ancestors

noun

plural of ancestor

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

• grandfathers
• fathers
• forefathers
• forebears
• grandmothers
• progenitors
• forebearers
• predecessors
• ancestries
• primogenitors
• foremothers
• patriarchs
• matriarchs
• ancestresses
• grandsires
• antecessors
• antecedents
• roots
• sires

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• descendants
• families
• children
• offspring
• issues
• lineages
• seed
• sons
• stocks
• daughters
• heirs
• successors
• progenies
• posterities
• inheritors
• scions

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

• forerunners
• precursors
• predecessors
• antecedents
• prototypes
• originals
• granddaddies
• archetypes
• originators
• mothers
• daddies
• models
• foregoers
• fathers
• sires

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• descendants
• derivatives
• sons
• daughters
• offshoots
• outgrowths
• by-products
• spin-offs

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of ancestors

Travelers who’d rather be outside should drive south on Snake River Road to Buffalo Eddy, where hundreds of petroglyphs etched into the basalt by Nez Perce ancestors thousands of years ago remain visible from the riverbank. — Lauren Mowery, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026

In Tenet, warriors from the future punish the present because their world is ravaged by climate change caused by us, their ancestors. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 29 July 2026

On the other hand, on both my father's side and mother's side, my ancestors all came to Taiwan from Fujian [on the Chinese mainland] around the 17th or 18th century. — Jan Camenzind Broomby, NPR, 29 July 2026

The genetic evidence suggests avocados’ ancestors picked the habit up about 40 million years ago. — Jeanne Timmons, Scientific American, 29 July 2026

My own outlook changed after a priestess told me to keep an altar to bring offerings to my ancestors. — Suzy Exposito, Los Angeles Times, 28 July 2026

Honoring and celebrating the past achievements of those ancestors, however, is different from taking credit for them. — Adam Serwer, The Atlantic, 24 July 2026

While Portuguese podengo’s ancestors date back to 600 BC, Argos wasn’t the only famous dog during the time period. — Maddie Rhodes, USA Today, 24 July 2026

The Zuni still return, making pilgrimages to the region to affirm what their oral history tells them, reading petroglyphs – images carved into the rock by their ancestors – that match those at their present-day home of Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico. — Kerri J. Malloy, The Conversation, 23 July 2026