as in ancestor
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 forefather
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
The original maps, with all due respect to the forefathers of FEMA, were kind of done on paper and crayon.
—Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 18 Nov. 2025
Earlier this year at Coachella, funk forefather George Clinton gifted Leon Thomas a custom hat, lauding him as one of the contemporary torchbearers of the genre.
—Kyle Denis, Billboard, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for forefather
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
The original maps, with all due respect to the forefathers of FEMA, were kind of done on paper and crayon.
—Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 18 Nov. 2025
Earlier this year at Coachella, funk forefather George Clinton gifted Leon Thomas a custom hat, lauding him as one of the contemporary torchbearers of the genre.
—Kyle Denis, Billboard, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for forefather
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forefather
Noun
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Staying on-site also puts guests inside a 19th-century estate tied to the Leacock family, British ancestors of the current owners, who helped pioneer Madeira wine’s trade with England and remained among the island’s major producers until 1925.—
Lauren Mowery,
Forbes.com,
22 Jan. 2026
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The researchers also said that the paintings were very likely created by people closely linked to the ancestors of Indigenous Australians.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
21 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Her grandfather, Ub, was a legendary animator instrumental in the development of Mickey Mouse.—
Todd Martens,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Jan. 2026
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King grew up at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where his father and grandfather served as pastors, and his mother played the organ.—
Daniel Wilkerson,
CBS News,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
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There’s an absent father and a clueless, neglectful mother but the five Gilbert children — Lydia, Hugo, Annabel, Jeremy and Rosalind — are essentially raising themselves in an English country house of secret passages and worrying infestations.—
Chris Hewitt,
Boston Herald,
22 Jan. 2026
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Then in the afternoon, 5-year-old Liam Ramos was taken with his father while in their driveway after just arriving home from his preschool classroom.—
Reg Chapman,
CBS News,
22 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Forefather.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forefather. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
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