1
as in causes
someone or something responsible for a result
what are the antecedents of the American Revolutionary War?
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in forerunners
something belonging to an earlier time from which something else was later developed
the typewriter is the antecedent of the computer keyboard
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of antecedents
After millennia of antecedents, this latest trend of trying to enlist God into warfare didn’t start in America, of course.
—
Andreas Kluth, Twin Cities, 3 Apr. 2026
Many musical and social antecedents are responsible for its birth.
—Literary Hub, 17 Feb. 2026
Went on to tackle malaria, and that process created both huge successes in modern public health, but also seeded the American public health system county by county across this country, and presented the antecedents of the Centers for Disease Control based in Atlanta.
—Christopher Dilella, CNBC, 17 Feb. 2026
The goal was to link American culture with its European antecedents—a heady way to justify shedding blood for another continent’s conflict.
—Colton Valentine, New Yorker, 24 Jan. 2026
For Ann Lee, an arthouse musical that counts among its closest antecedents Robert Eggers’ The Witch and the Björk-starring Dancer in the Dark, Blumberg reworked and retrofitted 10 traditional Shaker hymns, and recorded Seyfried and the other actors live on set.
—Walden Green, Pitchfork, 22 Jan. 2026
My poem works by multisequencing; in each of the three book-sections there are four narratives, and the reader must gather each piece of the narrative as it unspools and connect it to its antecedents—that yields compression.
—Ange Mlinko, The New York Review of Books, 23 Oct. 2025
The parallel plotlines involving Ali’s possible descendants and problematic antecedents, including a father (Ercan Kesal) who seems to be particularly abusive towards his wife, collide in highly unusual ways during the movie’s volatile second half.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Jan. 2025
Seeing around the bend in the river—or even knowing the river ahead does indeed bend—can require the sort of leap of faith that made Vannevar Bush insist that shamans, priests and spiritual seers are the antecedents of today’s engineering stars.
—IEEE Spectrum, 8 Aug. 2019
Andreas Kluth, Twin Cities, 3 Apr. 2026
Many musical and social antecedents are responsible for its birth.
—Literary Hub, 17 Feb. 2026
Went on to tackle malaria, and that process created both huge successes in modern public health, but also seeded the American public health system county by county across this country, and presented the antecedents of the Centers for Disease Control based in Atlanta.
—Christopher Dilella, CNBC, 17 Feb. 2026
The goal was to link American culture with its European antecedents—a heady way to justify shedding blood for another continent’s conflict.
—Colton Valentine, New Yorker, 24 Jan. 2026
For Ann Lee, an arthouse musical that counts among its closest antecedents Robert Eggers’ The Witch and the Björk-starring Dancer in the Dark, Blumberg reworked and retrofitted 10 traditional Shaker hymns, and recorded Seyfried and the other actors live on set.
—Walden Green, Pitchfork, 22 Jan. 2026
My poem works by multisequencing; in each of the three book-sections there are four narratives, and the reader must gather each piece of the narrative as it unspools and connect it to its antecedents—that yields compression.
—Ange Mlinko, The New York Review of Books, 23 Oct. 2025
The parallel plotlines involving Ali’s possible descendants and problematic antecedents, including a father (Ercan Kesal) who seems to be particularly abusive towards his wife, collide in highly unusual ways during the movie’s volatile second half.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Jan. 2025
Seeing around the bend in the river—or even knowing the river ahead does indeed bend—can require the sort of leap of faith that made Vannevar Bush insist that shamans, priests and spiritual seers are the antecedents of today’s engineering stars.
—IEEE Spectrum, 8 Aug. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for antecedents
Noun
-
Outside of the band’s status as one of the highest-selling live bands in the industry, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame group has cultivated a legacy in the music industry as an early pioneer in building out greener tours, looking to fundraise for environmental causes and minimize waste from his shows.—
Ethan Millman,
HollywoodReporter,
22 Apr. 2026
-
When Labour’s Tony Blair won in a landslide, Hilton co-founded a consulting firm, Good Business, advising corporations on how to make money by investing in social and environmental causes.—
National Correspondent,
Los Angeles Times,
22 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
-
Moreover, since the risk of contracting HIV is closely linked to the social determinants of health, such as having safe and stable housing and employment, barriers to HIV testing could further widen health gaps.—
Nathaniel M. Tran,
The Conversation,
10 Apr. 2026
-
High blood pressure is treatable, but despite having access to effective and affordable medications, more than half of Americans still have uncontrolled hypertension, with rates going up in sync with adverse social determinants of health.—
Elizabeth Cooney,
STAT,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
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,
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
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
-
Like that of her predecessors, her voice garnered respect based on a lifetime of service at the sport’s highest levels.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
21 Apr. 2026
-
Unlike its staid, variety‑show predecessors, there was no paste‑up scenery, no corny costumes, and no announcers with Oxbridge accents.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Antecedents.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/antecedents. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
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