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
  • Adela follows her grandfather’s footsteps while transforming his political and anthropological work into art, weaving a sound map from languages at risk of disappearing.
    — Callum McLennan, Variety, 13 Aug. 2026
  • The Beam family was at Raimondi Park sporting shirts with artwork of their beloved dad, husband, brother and grandfather.
    — Andrea Nakano, CBS News, 13 Aug. 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
  • Some of his forebears emigrated before the genocide; others barely got out.
    — Sarah Larson, New Yorker, 19 July 2026
  • Over the years, a number of prominent mathematicians tried to prove this guess of their forebears.
    — Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 14 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 19 Aug. 2026.

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