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

His ancestors moved there in the 1850's, and their photos and other archives are preserved inside the Roseville Historical Society museum. — James Taylor, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026

This response was presumably adaptive to prevent our ancestors from becoming underweight but is disastrous for today’s dieters. — Literary Hub, 17 Aug. 2026

My three sons are 13th generation Americans whose ancestors fought as Patriots during the Revolutionary War. — David Neil, New York Daily News, 15 Aug. 2026

Visitors strolled through the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens Saturday morning to kick off Obon Weekend, a traditional Japanese festival honoring the spirits of ancestors. — Mike Stocker, Sun Sentinel, 15 Aug. 2026

And Above Ground includes poems to his children about what their ancestors endured and escaped. — Terry Gross, NPR, 14 Aug. 2026

Plants themselves evolved from ancient green algal ancestors, eventually spreading across nearly every terrestrial environment. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Aug. 2026

At the site, excavators found stone tools alongside bones of ancient elephants — and the recent paper, written by archaeologists and paleoanthropologists, suggests the remains were likely deliberately butchered by early human ancestors. — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 14 Aug. 2026

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