as in grandmother
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Recent Examples of foremother
No one emerges at the end of the book as entirely good or bad (save, perhaps, for Busia, Regan’s culinary foremother).
—
Makana Eyre, Washington Post, 9 Jan. 2023
In a year when avant-pop stars such as Rosalía thrilled with volcanic vocals and cybernetic beats, their foremother dug in yet-stranger soil.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 15 Dec. 2022
Taking inspiration from her literary foremother Zora Neale Hurston, Walker centers southern Black women, who are all too often misrepresented in American culture.
—Usa Today Staff, USA TODAY, 27 Sep. 2021
The Houston exhibit, conceived by White and co-curator Jill Dawsey, explores Saint Phalle’s avant-garde status and how her resistance establishes her as a foremother of such contemporary artists as Tschabalala Self, Katie Stout, and Rachel Feinstein.
—Amarie Gipson, Town & Country, 4 Sep. 2021
See All Example Sentences for foremother
Makana Eyre, Washington Post, 9 Jan. 2023
In a year when avant-pop stars such as Rosalía thrilled with volcanic vocals and cybernetic beats, their foremother dug in yet-stranger soil.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 15 Dec. 2022
Taking inspiration from her literary foremother Zora Neale Hurston, Walker centers southern Black women, who are all too often misrepresented in American culture.
—Usa Today Staff, USA TODAY, 27 Sep. 2021
The Houston exhibit, conceived by White and co-curator Jill Dawsey, explores Saint Phalle’s avant-garde status and how her resistance establishes her as a foremother of such contemporary artists as Tschabalala Self, Katie Stout, and Rachel Feinstein.
—Amarie Gipson, Town & Country, 4 Sep. 2021
See All Example Sentences for foremother
Recent Examples of Synonyms for foremother
Noun
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That ancestor, his great-great-grandmother Mary Ground, was originally put down in the rolls as full-blooded Blackfeet.—
David Treuer,
The Atlantic,
13 Jan. 2026
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This penchant for mentorship has been a lifelong through line for Hampton, who herself was nurtured in fashion by her maternal grandmother — her Apo — who ran an organization called Fashion Arts & Youth Enterprise that taught young girls how to sew.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Meanwhile, Alice, Dana’s ancestress, never becomes much more than a moral quandary: a stubborn victim who is unable to adapt.—
Julian Lucas,
The New Yorker,
8 Mar. 2021
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Yang Asha is the mythical ancestress of the Miao people, an ethnic minority in China closely related to the Hmong of Southeast Asia.—
Keith Bradsher,
New York Times,
26 Nov. 2020
Noun
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The New York Times reported the Kardashian family matriarch purchased the home in 2010 for $4 million and allegedly spent millions renovating it over the years.—
Colson Thayer,
PEOPLE,
9 Jan. 2026
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Dern, an executive producer on the series, who also plays feminist activist Linda Shaw, had one person in mind for the role of Norma Dellacorte, the flask-toting matriarch who rules the area’s social scene.—
Savannah Walsh,
Vanity Fair,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The Dracula of Bram Stoker’s novel, a sophisticated aristocrat, remains, like his forebears, an unwelcome stranger.—
Rivka Galchen,
New Yorker,
7 Jan. 2026
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The Dutch — forebears of our city and exemplars of cycling culture — require fast e-bikes to be licensed and insured as mopeds.—
Sameer Butt,
New York Daily News,
4 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The issue is also deeply personal for Hall—his tribal council has granted and rescinded his own enrollment, all based on evolving interpretations of old documents about an ancestor.—
David Treuer,
The Atlantic,
13 Jan. 2026
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The results show that the earliest lizard ancestors almost certainly lacked the armor altogether, with the trait remaining absent for tens of millions of years after lizards first evolved.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
13 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Foremother.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/foremother. Accessed 15 Jan. 2026.
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