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
  • Vahidi, who assumed the role after his predecessor Mohammad Pakpour was killed in US-Israeli strikes on the first day of the war, is rarely seen in public.
    — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 5 July 2026
  • The elaborate funeral of his predecessor, Ruhollah Khomeini, was also orchestrated to demonstrate leadership continuity in 1989.
    — Rebecca Schneid, Time, 5 July 2026
Definition of predecessor
Noun
  • And discovering Grace Paley’s work was like discovering an ancestor.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 July 2026
  • In between Amos’s lines, In Times of Dragons is a saga of survival introducing different muses along the way, from a real-life ancestor, a martyr who fell in love with Jesus, and a group of rugged women.
    — Tina Eves, SPIN, 13 July 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
  • If their grandfather wants to repair the relationship, a check isn’t going to be the thing to do it.
    — R. Eric Thomas, Chicago Tribune, 9 July 2026
  • Lock was a third-generation Mizzou Tiger, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather.
    — PJ Green July 9, Kansas City Star, 9 July 2026
Definition of grandfather
Noun
  • Wulf pays overdue homage to an intellectual titan and forefather of linguistics and natural history.
    — Hamilton Cain, Time, 7 July 2026
  • But the truth is that our forefathers were sufficiently individualistic to be iconoclastic.
    — Colin Fleming, New York Daily News, 4 July 2026
Definition of forefather
Noun
  • Back home in Wilmington, Cynthia Brown built community the way her forebears had built houses—tirelessly and elegantly in the course of years.
    — Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 3 July 2026
  • For anyone wanting to see or experience the sites and vestiges of Miami’s ancient inhabitants, the people known as Tequesta and their even more enigmatic Archaic forebears, there are only a few places to go.
    — Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 30 June 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 17 Jul. 2026.

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