as in founders
a person who establishes a whole new field of endeavor
Theodor Herzl is often credited as the founding father of modern Zionism
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Recent Examples of founding fathers
No, January 6 was a day our founding fathers would have been standing shoulder to shoulder with us.
—
Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
Our founding fathers enshrined freedom of speech in the First Amendment, not the second or the 10th, but the first.
—Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Oc Register, 21 Oct. 2025
This is the oldest bar in the city and was once the watering hole for the founding fathers, including George Washington.
—Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 18 Oct. 2025
Mandato cited writings of several founding fathers, including John Adams, Daniel Webster and John Witherspoon, who argued the country's constitutional system cannot endure without a moral and religious population, and Christian principals are conducive to good citizenship.
—Vivian Jones, Nashville Tennessean, 26 Sep. 2025
That’s the way the founding fathers intended it.
—Mark Waller, Denver Post, 26 Sep. 2025
That’s essentially what happened in the American Revolution, most of the founding fathers were of the wealthiest echelons of the colonies.
—Nikki McCann Ramirez, Rolling Stone, 22 Sep. 2025
In fact, Leticia was established by the Peruvian military in the 1800s and takes its name from the girlfriend of one of its founding fathers.
—John Otis, NPR, 7 Sep. 2025
More than a month after his death, Ozzy Osbourne’s music has largely slipped away from the Billboard charts following the headline-grabbing news that one of rock’s founding fathers had passed away.
—Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 6 Sep. 2025
Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
Our founding fathers enshrined freedom of speech in the First Amendment, not the second or the 10th, but the first.
—Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Oc Register, 21 Oct. 2025
This is the oldest bar in the city and was once the watering hole for the founding fathers, including George Washington.
—Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 18 Oct. 2025
Mandato cited writings of several founding fathers, including John Adams, Daniel Webster and John Witherspoon, who argued the country's constitutional system cannot endure without a moral and religious population, and Christian principals are conducive to good citizenship.
—Vivian Jones, Nashville Tennessean, 26 Sep. 2025
That’s the way the founding fathers intended it.
—Mark Waller, Denver Post, 26 Sep. 2025
That’s essentially what happened in the American Revolution, most of the founding fathers were of the wealthiest echelons of the colonies.
—Nikki McCann Ramirez, Rolling Stone, 22 Sep. 2025
In fact, Leticia was established by the Peruvian military in the 1800s and takes its name from the girlfriend of one of its founding fathers.
—John Otis, NPR, 7 Sep. 2025
More than a month after his death, Ozzy Osbourne’s music has largely slipped away from the Billboard charts following the headline-grabbing news that one of rock’s founding fathers had passed away.
—Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 6 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for founding fathers
Noun
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During the formative phase of the infant American republic, when its survival was still problematic, iconic founders performed a valuable function as reliable sources of unquestioned wisdom, a veritable gallery of Delphic oracles available on demand.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Oct. 2025
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Facebook offered some $114 billion for the photo-sharing app, divided between its two co-founders, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, as well as investors and less than a dozen employees.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
28 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Abundantia stressed the philosophy of Abundantia aiOn would be ‘Human First, AI Empowered’, with an aim to explore how artificial intelligence can empower creators and act as a creative accelerator.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
27 Oct. 2025
-
These creators — many of whom sell their own workbooks and classes on how to game the KDP system — take public domain classic literature and use AI to add summaries and discussion questions before relisting them on the site with a new cover.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
27 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Family is at her core Patterson and her husband, Lance, adopted their two nephews (whose fathers were incarcerated) and raised them through high school, IndyWeek reported.—
Evan Moore
October 31,
Charlotte Observer,
31 Oct. 2025
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Currently in production in Nevada, the film follows two fathers from vastly different worlds who form an unlikely bond while searching for a runaway daughter in Reno.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The study authors looked at 13 samples and found no traces of typhus, but their work does not discredit the findings of the 2006 study, the researchers noted.—
Taylor Nicioli,
CNN Money,
24 Oct. 2025
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As this heatwave persisted, the authors tracked the health of 52,356 wild and restored Acropora coral colonies across the 350-mile length of Florida's coral reef.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
24 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Founding fathers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/founding%20fathers. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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