forebears

variants also forbears
plural of forebear

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 forebears The album only passingly cares about the signature dance-pop gunk of its 2010s and ’20s peers and forebears and doesn’t (like songs by Gomez, Addison Rae, and others) spend much time exploring Lana Del Rey as a subgenre. Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2025 Once upon a time, scholars thought that human evolution was a march of progress in which our forebears evolved in linear fashion from an apelike ancestor to a series of increasingly humanlike forms. Kate Wong, Scientific American, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forebears
Noun
  • Andrea spends his free time here when not traveling the world performing, while his younger brother Alberto and his family quietly tend to the 300 acres of grain fields, vines, and olive trees, safeguarding the land their ancestors once farmed as sharecroppers.
    Jim Dobson, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
  • But the staff at the Indian Community School were nurturing and respectful while the students learned about their ancestors' heritage.
    Frank Vaisvilas, jsonline.com, 31 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • These are men who grew up with fathers who ignored menopause.
    Laura Trujillo, USA Today, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Their conversation was not about the character but about fathers.
    Gerrad Hall, Entertainment Weekly, 4 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Now a young man, he's recently started a new chapter as an Army private first class and plans to follow in his father's and grandfathers’ military footsteps.
    Susan Young, People.com, 1 Sep. 2025
  • The pride of Santa Elena's silletero families is palpable, with everyone from young children to grandmothers and grandfathers tracing the route of the culminating parade carrying their creations on their backs.
    Carley Rojas Ávila, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Forebears.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forebears. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on forebears

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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