1
as in precursors
one that announces or indicates the later arrival of another
the return of the swallows is traditionally regarded as a forerunner of spring
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in ancestors
something belonging to an earlier time from which something else was later developed
enjoyed the demonstration of the simple hand loom that was the forerunner of today's computer-controlled looms
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of forerunners
Even the Hammurabi Code, a set of laws created by the sixth Babylonian king in approximately 1760 bce, established forerunners of today’s interest rate and minimum wage laws.
—
Chris Roush,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
22 Apr. 2026
The Norwegian ended his season before the Olympics to further recover from a shoulder injury, but attended the finals as one of the forerunners, who test a course shortly before a race starts.
—
ABC News,
22 Mar. 2026
These were the forerunners of today’s robots.
—
Munis Raza,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Mar. 2026
And these projects may just be the forerunners.
—
Andy Sheehan,
CBS News,
17 Feb. 2026
With little support for the WHO among Republicans — who control both the House and the Senate — there has been no push from Congress to hold the country to the provision set out by their forerunners.
—
Helen Branswell,
STAT,
21 Jan. 2026
Like these forerunners, the pleasures of Knight’s A Thousand Blows, which premiered all six episodes of its second season on Hulu Friday, lies in looking back on that thin sliver of time, about 15 years ago, when anachronistic old-timey crime was in vogue.
—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
9 Jan. 2026
The primacy of a central meeting space can be traced to the Greek Empire with the agora, among other forerunners.
—
Jeanne Bonner,
CNN Money,
19 Dec. 2025
Compared to their forerunners in the tsarist era, with their party congresses held abroad, their executive committees, and their active recruitment in imperial Russia’s universities, Soviet dissidents remained a comparatively small and informal conglomeration of activists.
—
Benjamin Nathans
september 24,
Literary Hub,
24 Sep. 2025
Chris Roush,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
22 Apr. 2026
The Norwegian ended his season before the Olympics to further recover from a shoulder injury, but attended the finals as one of the forerunners, who test a course shortly before a race starts.
—
ABC News,
22 Mar. 2026
These were the forerunners of today’s robots.
—
Munis Raza,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Mar. 2026
And these projects may just be the forerunners.
—
Andy Sheehan,
CBS News,
17 Feb. 2026
With little support for the WHO among Republicans — who control both the House and the Senate — there has been no push from Congress to hold the country to the provision set out by their forerunners.
—
Helen Branswell,
STAT,
21 Jan. 2026
Like these forerunners, the pleasures of Knight’s A Thousand Blows, which premiered all six episodes of its second season on Hulu Friday, lies in looking back on that thin sliver of time, about 15 years ago, when anachronistic old-timey crime was in vogue.
—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
9 Jan. 2026
The primacy of a central meeting space can be traced to the Greek Empire with the agora, among other forerunners.
—
Jeanne Bonner,
CNN Money,
19 Dec. 2025
Compared to their forerunners in the tsarist era, with their party congresses held abroad, their executive committees, and their active recruitment in imperial Russia’s universities, Soviet dissidents remained a comparatively small and informal conglomeration of activists.
—
Benjamin Nathans
september 24,
Literary Hub,
24 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forerunners
Noun
-
Essentially, this transition marks the point where our cells are set up with the precursors required for organ formation, one of the most critical events in human development.
-
Earth-impacting shrapnel from those primordial upheavals may have helped seed our planet with the precursors for life, delivering water and organic compounds from the dark, icy depths of the outer solar system.
Noun
-
Kean comes from a long line of public servants, stretching 250 years to the country’s founding when one of his ancestors became New Jersey’s first leader since independence.
-
The driving force for the tour is the idea that Black Americans and Muslims must unapologetically tell their own story, something their ancestors couldn’t do.
Noun
-
The world looked to the social elite as the ultimate harbingers of style trends and sophistication, giving them a cultural cache and, in turn, a sense of power.
-
If canaries in coal mines were harbingers of safe conditions, surely piping plovers at Waukegan Beach mean the city is overcoming its polluted past.
Noun
-
Today’s new cars and trucks are many times more sophisticated than their predecessors just a few decades ago.
-
The many new elements are deeper and much more exciting than their predecessors.
Noun
-
The heralds operate like independent contractors, with their own caseloads.
-
The reason is that the 1996 Ferrari 550 Maranello’s arrival was one of the heralds of the Ferrari of today, the one building cars with both world-beating performance and everyday usability.
Noun
-
Praying all the angels watch over his family during this difficult time.
-
So a crew of angels and one unruly human are on a mission to rescue every Black person and bring them to heaven.
Noun
-
His deputies and outriders are not quite so deft.
-
Churchill Downs outriders, jockey agents, jockeys Florent Geroux and Julian Leperoux, as well as members of Lukas' barn staff also sat in the crowd.
Noun
-
Photos of wallets, textiles, sports equipment, photos, jewelry, signs, flags, quilts, stuffies, toys and camp trunks filled the page as strangers banded together in the comments sections, tagging potential rightful owners or friends with any leads.
-
What are the signs that game fatigue may be something more serious?
Cite this Entry
“Forerunners.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forerunners. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
