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
Named after their great-grandfather, three brothers live with their families in the village, carrying on the traditional pottery work of their forefathers.
—
Sonya Rehman, Forbes.com, 6 May 2025
The statistics were grim—twenty-first-century males were, relative to their forefathers and their female contemporaries, much more likely to fall behind in school, drop out of college, languish in the workforce, or die by overdose or suicide.
—Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2025
Until recently, the Wong Kim Ark case was so rarely discussed publicly that even Mr. Wong’s descendants knew little about their history-making forefather.
—Amy Qin, New York Times, 10 Feb. 2025
In the tradition of jam forefathers like the Dead and the Allman Brothers Band, Goose often soar during the concluding portions of their songs, ramping up the increasingly emphatic and euphoric solos.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 23 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for forefather
Sonya Rehman, Forbes.com, 6 May 2025
The statistics were grim—twenty-first-century males were, relative to their forefathers and their female contemporaries, much more likely to fall behind in school, drop out of college, languish in the workforce, or die by overdose or suicide.
—Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2025
Until recently, the Wong Kim Ark case was so rarely discussed publicly that even Mr. Wong’s descendants knew little about their history-making forefather.
—Amy Qin, New York Times, 10 Feb. 2025
In the tradition of jam forefathers like the Dead and the Allman Brothers Band, Goose often soar during the concluding portions of their songs, ramping up the increasingly emphatic and euphoric solos.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 23 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for forefather
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forefather
Noun
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As Charles Handy explained in The Age of Paradox, modern life forces us to navigate complexities our ancestors never faced, such as the tension between efficiency and humanity or between individual freedom and collective responsibility.—
Shane Enete,
Forbes.com,
20 June 2025
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Throughout the middle passage, it has been said that our ancestors wove familiar items such as beads, shells, or even seeds and grains from home into their braids, to keep with them along their journeys.—
Essence,
Essence,
19 June 2025
Noun
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His first experiences of racing came from watching the Tour de France with his grandfather.—
Jacob Whitehead,
New York Times,
18 June 2025
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Built in 1939 by Gamboa’s grandfather, the mansion marries Art Deco style with bahay kubo architecture, a traditional Filipino house on stilts.—
Jeff Chu,
Travel + Leisure,
16 June 2025
Noun
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In the future, Lisa serves as commissioner of the NBA, and Bart runs a retirement home where their widowed father Homer resides.—
Armon Sadler,
VIBE.com,
26 June 2025
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But in her 20s, Mariska became aware, independently, that her biological father was an Italian nightclub entertainer named Nelson Sardelli.—
Robert Lloyd,
Los Angeles Times,
26 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Forefather.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forefather. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
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