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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His parents Ben and Jessica Ruthe are both national-level champion athletes in New Zealand and his grandmother Rosemary Stirling is a 1972 Olympian.—
Laura Sharman,
CNN Money,
1 Feb. 2026
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Mikala grew up taking annual family trips to Austin to visit her grandmother, an Austinite since 1975, and has fully adopted the Texas lifestyle since moving to the Lone Star State in 2018.—
Ricardo B. Brazziell,
Austin American Statesman,
1 Feb. 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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Gemmell plays Lady Violet Bridgerton, the matriarch of the family.—
Allison DeGrushe,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 Jan. 2026
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Nowadays, the five members of the famed group have stepped into the role of moms themselves and are now matriarchs of their own families.—
Stephanie Sengwe,
PEOPLE,
21 Jan. 2026
Noun
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His claim motivated a phalanx of AIDS deniers, the forebears of the anti-vaccine militants today.—
Business Columnist,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Jan. 2026
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But Wallace, alert to the sexism of his forebears and eager to demonstrate his own feminism, once sounded a lot like Lockwood.—
Hermione Hoby,
New Yorker,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
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There’s an urge to reconnect with our heritage, and people are undertaking ancestry pilgrimages, combining boots-on-the-ground investigation into family trees and searching for documents in town halls, with discovering the places our ancestors used to call home.—
Alex Ledsom,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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So much of these online spaces, social media in particular, are created for community; inside of them, the primary medium is storytelling, and often the same stories are repeated or mimicked, recreating the oral storytelling tradition of our ancestors.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Foremother.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/foremother. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
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