Synonyms of forebears

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ancestors
• grandfathers
• fathers
• forefathers
• progenitors
• forebearers
• grandmothers
• predecessors
• foremothers
• primogenitors
• patriarchs
• matriarchs
• ancestresses
• ancestries
• grandsires
• antecedents
• antecessors
• sires
• roots

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• descendants
• children
• families
• offspring
• issues
• lineages
• seed
• sons
• successors
• stocks
• daughters
• heirs
• progenies
• posterities
• inheritors
• scions

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of forebears

Pulling on a long rope of influences that begins with the Wilsons and runs through British prog, bedroom pop, and chillwave, Doomed is a serene and satisfying collection which, like its forebears, makes a personal matter of universal consciousness. — Ryan Meehan, Pitchfork, 26 Oct. 2026

Their forebears at the Academy snubbed canonical documentaries like The Thin Blue Line, Roger & Me, and Hoop Dreams. — Nate Jones, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2026

First our forebears began to imitate peers learned behaviors, creating group norms that supported coordinated work. — Michael Morris, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026

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