antecessor

noun

Definition of antecessornext
as in predecessor

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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 antecessor Like Homo antecessor, the Casablanca fossils have a mix of characteristics from Homo erectus, ourselves and our cousins. — CBS News, 8 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for antecessor
  1. predecessor
  2. ancestor
  3. progenitor
  4. grandfather
  5. forefather
  6. forebear
  7. forebearer
Noun
  • Xi made the comments at a landmark speech marking the centenary of the birth of one of his predecessors – Jiang Zemin, who was China’s leader from 1993 to 2002.
    — Sylvie Zhuang, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Minter plays it safe For all the questions about how Minter’s first training camp has differed from John Harbaugh’s, the first-year head coach handled the first preseason game much like his predecessor — with extreme caution.
    — Jeff Zrebiec, New York Times, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of predecessor
Noun
  • 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
Definition of ancestor
Noun
  • So perhaps a certain signaling molecule preferentially accumulates more on one side of a neural progenitor cell than the other.
    — Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 13 July 2026
  • Yet that same year, Brynjolfsson got access to GPT-3, a progenitor of ChatGPT.
    — Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 29 June 2026
Definition of progenitor
Noun
  • Vance is set to speak at the Cleveland-Cliffs Middletown Works facility, which was known as Armco Steel when his grandfather James Vance worked there for nearly 40 years.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 21 Aug. 2026
  • As for Harris, her grandfather's brick now has a place of honor at home.
    — Madeleine Wright, CBS News, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of grandfather
Noun
  • Many progressives and political experts cite Sanders, the Senate's only democratic socialist member, as the forefather of the movement that has toppled several longtime Democratic incumbents across the nation this year.
    — Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 16 Aug. 2026
  • Wulf pays overdue homage to an intellectual titan and forefather of linguistics and natural history.
    — Hamilton Cain, Time, 7 July 2026
Definition of forefather
Noun
  • Harking back to its Jurassic forbear, The End of Oak Street channels everyone's favorite '80s Amblin classics, but with a far more vicious bite.
    — Megan McCluskey, Time, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Some of his forebears emigrated before the genocide; others barely got out.
    — Sarah Larson, New Yorker, 19 July 2026
Definition of forebear
Noun
  • Mike Brown said the digital driver license is the forebearer of discriminating against the unvaccinated.
    — Bryan Schott, The Salt Lake Tribune, 8 Feb. 2022
  • If successful, The Mayflower Autonomous Ship, named in honor of its famous nautical forebearer and known as MAS for short, will be the first such trans-Atlantic voyage by an autonomous vessel.
    — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 27 Nov. 2021
Definition of forebearer

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anteceding
antecessor
antecessors
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“Antecessor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/antecessor. Accessed 22 Aug. 2026.

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