descendants

noun

variants also descendents
plural of descendant
as in successors

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for descendants
  1. successors
  2. offspring
  3. children
  4. scions
Noun
  • Unfortunately, this future focus dwindled and largely disappeared in the following decades as key leaders departed Congress, and their successors pursued other interests.
    — John T. Shaw, Chicago Tribune, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Do not confuse attendance with readiness; give successors real decisions before the transition.
    — Rob Versaw, Forbes.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of successors
Noun
  • Ella Bleu Travolta, John’s daughter, walked the Miu Miu show, and Apple Martin, offspring of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, debuted on the runway for Chloé after fronting one of its campaigns.
    — José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Researchers collect the parents' DNA since their offspring are fragile when young.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of offspring
Noun
  • The Dells’ money will go to children in ZIP codes with median incomes of $150,000 or less, giving millions of families a chance to start building wealth early.
    — Sydney Lake, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Officials said that parents and guardians may want to consider requesting a free credit freeze for their children who are under 16 to help prevent unauthorized accounts from being opened in the names of their children.
    — Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of children
Noun
  • In advance of the World Cup, NetJets signed Lionel Messi as an ambassador, including a private youth clinic for the scions of its fractional-share owners.
    — Doug Gollan, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
  • The political scions — and many of their family members — were divided by the 2024 presidential election.
    — Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 18 June 2026
Definition of scions
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.

Browse Nearby Words

descendant
descendants
descended
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Descendants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/descendants. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 16
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All