ARCHETYPES Synonyms: 47 Similar and Opposite Words

archetypes

noun

plural of archetype

as in forerunners

something belonging to an earlier time from which something else was later developed the abacus is sometimes cited as the archetype of the modern digital calculator

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in originals

something from which copies are made Beowulf is considered by some scholars to be the archetype for medieval British heroic tales

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 archetypes In keeping with The Traitors’ Clue-like aesthetic, casting specifically sought out applicants with jobs that slotted them into murder-mystery archetypes. — Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026 Matthew’s three kids are just TV archetypes, rarely resembling real people at all. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 23 Sep. 2026 During the war, Pavese immersed himself in Greek tragedy, as well as the anthropological writings of Frazer and Lévy-Bruhl, Freud on childhood and the narrative technique of dreams, and Jung on the archetypes of the collective unconscious. — Max Norman, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026 In the same way that somebody brings something to a new Harry Potter series or a James Bond or something of that nature that has a kind of cyclical storytelling element with different repeating archetypes. — Jennifer Maas, Variety, 10 Sep. 2026 The plots aren’t particularly developed or surprising, and the characters are written more as archetypes than as real people. — Emily Temple, Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2026 For one thing, archetypes are by definition reductive, and there are plenty of people around here who are older, or parents, or retired, or indifferent to the bar scene, or all of the above. — Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 2 Sep. 2026 Hsu’s office aimed to avoid both early on by refusing to name a particular style, reference familiar restaurant archetypes, or let the project become thematic. — Alexis Benveniste, Architectural Digest, 27 Aug. 2026 Perhaps that’s why the pair has striven to create fresh archetypes. — Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 27 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for archetypes

Noun

Margaret and Alice are the forerunners of Lucy and Ethel, and Shakespeare’s comedy, written expressly to entertain, gives us a sense of what an Elizabethan-era situation comedy might look like.

— Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2026
One of the forerunners today in Madeira and the Azores is António Maçanita from Azores Wine Company.

— Forbes.com, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026

Definition of forerunners

Noun

Netflix, in addition to a broad lineup of licensed titles, also spends a bunch of money on originals.

— Todd Spangler, Variety, 2 Oct. 2026
This process helped preserve the irregular lines, layered color and tactile quality of the originals and used this character within the fabrics.

— Fairchild Studio, Footwear News, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of originals

Noun

By remaining involved in the businesses their ancestors began, these families have preserved and expanded their wealth across multiple generations while also shaping the American business landscape.

— Alex Gurley, PEOPLE, 30 Sep. 2026
John Spencer, at the time heir to the Spencer earldom and styled as Viscount Althorp, was two years older than Queen Elizabeth II and descended from a long line of ancestors who served the British crown.

— Diego Parrado, Vanity Fair, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of ancestors

Noun

The coal and steel organization was the first among European institutions that were precursors to what eventually became the European Union.

— ABC News, ABC News, 28 Sep. 2026
Depots could reconstitute expended stocks on site, as quickly as mineral precursors can be extracted and processed.

— Dan Driscoll, Foreign Affairs, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of precursors

Noun

In July, the music artist and producer spent some solo time after getting into a prison fight, sources told TMZ and NBC News.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 4 Oct. 2026
The satellites can observe individual facilities from orbit and gather measurements that help identify greenhouse gas sources.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of sources

Noun

On a single day late last month, a citizen and a noncitizen—one in Illinois, the other in Texas—became the most recent examples of this new reality.

— Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
In court documents, Fox's legal team noted that Thomson does not have concrete examples of specific claims being made about him.

— David Folkenflik, NPR, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of examples

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archetype

archetypes

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Style

“Archetypes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/archetypes. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of archetypes

noun

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