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

While Silicon Valley has since moved on to shaping the future of artificial intelligence, these hardware enthusiasts are intent on saving the Atari, Commodore and IBM machines that are ancestors to today’s laptops, wearable devices and smartphones. — Terry Chea, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026

Long before dinosaurs ruled the continents and modern crocodiles first appeared, their ancestors were already going through a decisive phase in their evolutionary history. — The Conversation, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2026

Just thinking about connecting to lineage, because we’re all connected to each other and we’re connected to our ancestors. — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 9 Aug. 2026

Hallegua is a Paradesi Jew, the once-dominant group whose fair-skinned, Sephardic ancestors from Spain and Portugal fled the Spanish Inquisition in the 16th century. — ABC News, 7 Aug. 2026

Construction on the pipeline could mean members of the community must make the decision between digging up their ancestors to preserve their graves or having the graves destroyed in the construction. — Madeline Luebkert, CBS News, 5 Aug. 2026

Those with the funds to file a court case, essentially suing the Italian state for sexism against their female ancestors, are likely to win, but legal action is lengthy and costly. — Julia Buckley, CNN Money, 4 Aug. 2026

Therefore, this benefit must reach everyone, not only those whose ancestors match the reference sets from past decades. — William A. Haseltine, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026

The house was converted into a hotel in 2018 by Tomás Álvarez Aja, a Mexican tech entrepreneur whose ancestors emigrated to the Americas from Asturias—a social class known locally as Indianos. — Simon Willis, Travel + Leisure, 4 Aug. 2026