FOREBEARS Synonyms: 38 Similar and Opposite Words

forebears

noun

variants also forbears

plural of forebear

as in ancestors

a person who is several generations earlier in an individual's line of descent his forebears came to America on the Mayflower

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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 Plant paid special attention to forebears and contemporaries. — Chris Willman, Variety, 17 Sep. 2026 Some of his forebears emigrated before the genocide; others barely got out. — Sarah Larson, New Yorker, 19 July 2026 Over the years, a number of prominent mathematicians tried to prove this guess of their forebears. — Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 14 July 2026 Their trajectories have diverged and sometimes overlapped in the 125 years since their forebears moved through the same dusty streets on one November day. — CBS News, 12 July 2026 For anyone wanting to see or experience the sites and vestiges of Miami’s ancient inhabitants, the people known as Tequesta and their even more enigmatic Archaic forebears, there are only a few places to go. — Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 30 June 2026 For 17 generations, Wietse Van Der Werf’s forebears toiled as dockworkers, shipbuilders, and sea captains in the Netherlands and its colonies. — Richard Morgan, Time, 29 June 2026 Eight Dukes of Wellington and two very full centuries on from that 1825 procession, on this June 16, the 9th Duke rode, as each of his forbears did and as the future heirs to the ducal title will do, in the lead carriage with the king to open Royal Ascot. — Guy Martin, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026 In 1786, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson visited the site to see where, almost a century and a half earlier, their forebears had fought to dethrone a king, showing the world that another system of government was possible. — Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 9 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for forebears

Noun

Their ancestors had entered the United States through Southern ports, especially New Orleans and Galveston, which gave them a different political and cultural orientation from those who had entered through the East, and above all through New York.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026
While the complexities around working within a park that his ancestors had been removed from remain, Mgesi now supports much of his extended family with the steady wage.

— Juliet Kinsman, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Sep. 2026

Definition of ancestors

Noun

His grandfathers are former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr and Tom Curtis, an All-America defensive back for the Wolverines, and his brother is Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr.

— ABC News, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2026
Nearly a century after his great-grandfathers played college football, USC freshman defensive lineman Luke Wafle is emerging as a generational talent.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of grandfathers

Noun

Many of them, including Ned and his childhood friend and rival, Roland, are scarred by their time as youth players, haunted by memories of the sadistic coaches and cruel, competitive fathers who terrorized them both on and off the court.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2026
Millennial mothers and fathers in the United States spend more time tending to their offspring than Gen X-ers did.

— Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of fathers

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forebearers

forebears

forebode

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“Forebears.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forebears. Accessed 30 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of forebears

noun

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