as in ancestors
a person who is several generations earlier in an individual's line of descent
our forefathers bought this farm, and our family has worked it for three generations
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Recent Examples of forefathers
The clubs, civic organizations and community events that once brought our forefathers together are largely fading away.
—
Judith Martin, Dallas Morning News, 10 Mar. 2026
The Nuggets forefathers witnessed him before the rest of Denver, as if it was meant to be that Jamal Murray would become one of them.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 15 Feb. 2026
Yet, without ceasing, another generation of Puerto Ricans pick up the mantle to chant in the streets and fight for their country, out of love for their forefathers and foremothers.
—Taylor Crumpton, Time, 10 Feb. 2026
Our forefathers fought the American Revolution to get away from a tyrannical monarch and indifferent legislators, not to create our own homegrown version of it.
—Chicago Tribune, 5 Jan. 2026
The Philadelphia Art Museum, the National Constitution Center, the Museum of the American Revolution, and smaller outfits like Eastern State Penitentiary and Historic Germantown will, as expected, reimagine the history of our republic in an homage to the forefathers’ ingenuity.
—Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 5 Jan. 2026
My forefathers helped form the Soviet identity and its rituals, even before there was a country to promote them.
—Andrew Fedorov, The Atlantic, 31 Dec. 2025
Markus — whose great-great-great-grandfather invented the nutcracker doll — makes nutcrackers for a living, as did each of his forefathers who descended from the great inventor.
—Elaina Patton, IndieWire, 15 Dec. 2025
The military forefathers of the Valley must have been horrified at the hippies their children became, though by the eighties the arc of flower power had bent toward the common ground of Wall Street.
—Literary Hub, 21 Nov. 2025
Judith Martin, Dallas Morning News, 10 Mar. 2026
The Nuggets forefathers witnessed him before the rest of Denver, as if it was meant to be that Jamal Murray would become one of them.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 15 Feb. 2026
Yet, without ceasing, another generation of Puerto Ricans pick up the mantle to chant in the streets and fight for their country, out of love for their forefathers and foremothers.
—Taylor Crumpton, Time, 10 Feb. 2026
Our forefathers fought the American Revolution to get away from a tyrannical monarch and indifferent legislators, not to create our own homegrown version of it.
—Chicago Tribune, 5 Jan. 2026
The Philadelphia Art Museum, the National Constitution Center, the Museum of the American Revolution, and smaller outfits like Eastern State Penitentiary and Historic Germantown will, as expected, reimagine the history of our republic in an homage to the forefathers’ ingenuity.
—Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 5 Jan. 2026
My forefathers helped form the Soviet identity and its rituals, even before there was a country to promote them.
—Andrew Fedorov, The Atlantic, 31 Dec. 2025
Markus — whose great-great-great-grandfather invented the nutcracker doll — makes nutcrackers for a living, as did each of his forefathers who descended from the great inventor.
—Elaina Patton, IndieWire, 15 Dec. 2025
The military forefathers of the Valley must have been horrified at the hippies their children became, though by the eighties the arc of flower power had bent toward the common ground of Wall Street.
—Literary Hub, 21 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forefathers
Noun
-
Claire meets Frank’s ancestors.—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
26 Mar. 2026
-
People whose ancestors ate a lot of endosperm have extra copies of the genes that make starch‑digesting enzymes.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Robert Pelot, the owner of Pelot’s Rexall Pharmacy, said it’s been in his family since one of his great-grandfathers moved to the Bradenton area from Indiana in the late 1800s.—
Amaia Gavica,
Miami Herald,
6 Mar. 2026
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Is this the noble cause that our grandfathers would have shed their blood for 85 years ago?—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Many of them had a cocky attitude, even after their fathers were killed.—
Marta Balaga,
Variety,
26 Mar. 2026
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Studies show that women’s earnings fall after having children while men see their wages increase after becoming fathers.—
Jacqueline Munis,
Fortune,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Forefathers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forefathers. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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