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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Pulvirenti spoke with his grandmother, who is a tailor, as well as Vivo Hub colleagues at Bristol while developing the garment.—
Elizabeth Howell,
Space.com,
10 Nov. 2025
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In the 20th century, Black folks seeking refuge from the Jim Crow South moved to California en masse, among them Butler’s grandmother from Louisiana.—
Vann R. Newkirk II,
The Atlantic,
10 Nov. 2025
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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When Days of Our Lives premiered in 1965, Reid headed up the Horton family as the matriarch, Alice Horton.—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
8 Nov. 2025
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The movie’s star studded cast includes Colman Domingo as the family patriarch Joe Jackson and Nia Long as the matriarch, Katherine Jackson.—
Lisa Respers France,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Yet while most wound up being little more than footnotes in the books, Lamborghini managed to build a new mid-engined monster that would prove a successful successor to its forebears on children’s bedroom walls and in rich men’s driveways alike.—
Will Sabel Courtney,
Robb Report,
6 Nov. 2025
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Hundreds of billions of dollars have been invested in the generative-AI industry, and the companies—like their social-media forebears—will seek returns.—
Damon Beres,
The Atlantic,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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His tío was a babalao (a Santería priest) who could conjure a spirit known as an orixá that could then take the form of its targets’ ancestors.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2025
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At Rokeby, museum interpreters explain how the Robinson's ancestors had become wealthy in part due to the slave trade, but were abolitionists in later generations.—
Trevor Hughes,
USA Today,
10 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Foremother.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/foremother. Accessed 23 Nov. 2025.
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