as in ancestors
a person who is several generations earlier in an individual's line of descent
villagers who still practice many of the customs of their forebearers
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forebearers
Noun
-
The further in the past your dog has purebred ancestors, the smaller the identical segments matching our reference dataset are.—
Michele Laufik,
Martha Stewart,
19 Feb. 2026 -
Being alone would’ve made our ancestors more vulnerable to, say, bears or lions.—
Erica Sloan,
SELF,
19 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Sweet Country was about our grandfathers, who were taken as children to become slaves on cattle stations, on ranches.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
12 Feb. 2026
-
My grandfathers had both been miners whose early deaths owed much to their working lives.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Meanwhile, other fathers may ignore or hurt a litter’s weaker siblings.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
18 Feb. 2026
-
Latinx people of conscience recognize our own tios, tias, primos, primas, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers in the brown faces being livestreamed with blood and agony pouring into enraged mouths asking for help.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Forebearers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forebearers. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.
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