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
But the Nelsons — Lukas and his dad, the outlaw country forefather Willie — are no ordinary family.
—
Rachel Desantis, PEOPLE, 18 Dec. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for forefather
Rachel Desantis, PEOPLE, 18 Dec. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for forefather
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forefather
Noun
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But now, a series of tea parties with an ape named Kanzi suggests some of our closest ancestors may have this ability too.—
Suzanne Nuyen,
NPR,
11 Feb. 2026
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The findings also suggest that herbivory evolved independently in several different groups of early land vertebrates, not just in the ancestors of modern reptiles.—
Lily Hautau,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The company, Christian Brothers Hockey Sticks, was founded by his grandfather and great-uncle, 1960 Olympic hockey stars Bill and Roger Christian.—
Kyle Newman,
Denver Post,
5 Feb. 2026
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Kocher was a grandfather and a sucker for extra hours on the bike trails, Beckley said.—
Lillie Davidson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Their accounts gave me shivers of recognition—their experiences echoed my father’s stories.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Feb. 2026
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The two become inseparable, to the dismay of Cathy’s paid companion Nelly (Vi Nguyen), and only become closer after Heathcliff takes a beating on Cathy’s behalf from her alcoholic father (Martin Clunes) for missing his birthday celebration.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Forefather.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forefather. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.
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