as in ancestors
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 forefathers
The Nuggets forefathers witnessed him before the rest of Denver, as if it was meant to be that Jamal Murray would become one of them.
—
Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 15 Feb. 2026
Yet, without ceasing, another generation of Puerto Ricans pick up the mantle to chant in the streets and fight for their country, out of love for their forefathers and foremothers.
—Taylor Crumpton, Time, 10 Feb. 2026
Our forefathers fought the American Revolution to get away from a tyrannical monarch and indifferent legislators, not to create our own homegrown version of it.
—Chicago Tribune, 5 Jan. 2026
The Philadelphia Art Museum, the National Constitution Center, the Museum of the American Revolution, and smaller outfits like Eastern State Penitentiary and Historic Germantown will, as expected, reimagine the history of our republic in an homage to the forefathers’ ingenuity.
—Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 5 Jan. 2026
My forefathers helped form the Soviet identity and its rituals, even before there was a country to promote them.
—Andrew Fedorov, The Atlantic, 31 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
Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 15 Feb. 2026
Yet, without ceasing, another generation of Puerto Ricans pick up the mantle to chant in the streets and fight for their country, out of love for their forefathers and foremothers.
—Taylor Crumpton, Time, 10 Feb. 2026
Our forefathers fought the American Revolution to get away from a tyrannical monarch and indifferent legislators, not to create our own homegrown version of it.
—Chicago Tribune, 5 Jan. 2026
The Philadelphia Art Museum, the National Constitution Center, the Museum of the American Revolution, and smaller outfits like Eastern State Penitentiary and Historic Germantown will, as expected, reimagine the history of our republic in an homage to the forefathers’ ingenuity.
—Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 5 Jan. 2026
My forefathers helped form the Soviet identity and its rituals, even before there was a country to promote them.
—Andrew Fedorov, The Atlantic, 31 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forefathers
Noun
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Because of that, cats’ predatory instincts and behaviors are still very close to their wild ancestors.—
Popular Science Team,
Popular Science,
27 Feb. 2026
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That such a film would go on to break the record for most Oscar nominations — with 16 including best film and best director for Coogler — is a fulfillment of the ancestors’ dreams.—
Lisa Respers France,
CNN Money,
26 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Sweet Country was about our grandfathers, who were taken as children to become slaves on cattle stations, on ranches.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
12 Feb. 2026
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My grandfathers had both been miners whose early deaths owed much to their working lives.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Rory Elizabeth Katherine Kennedy, 57 Robert and Ethel’s last child, Rory Elizabeth Katherine Kennedy was born on December 12, 1968, six months after her fathers assassination.—
Elle Meier,
InStyle,
26 Feb. 2026
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Murphy believes the idea is to arrest fathers and cut off income to the family.—
Chris Hoffman,
CBS News,
25 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Forefathers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forefathers. Accessed 28 Feb. 2026.
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