HEREDITY Synonyms: 34 Similar and Opposite Words

heredity

noun

Definition of heredity

as in blood

formal the natural process by which physical and mental qualities are passed from a parent to a child Heredity plays no part in the disease.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

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 heredity These two features have led to the suggestion that early life was protein-free, with RNA handling both heredity and catalyzing a simple metabolism. — Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 13 Feb. 2026 His second album, Baby—a meditation on heredity, shredded and reconstituted in a $10 DJ program—was released to rapturous acclaim in August. — Paul A. Thompson, Pitchfork, 8 Dec. 2025 To truly understand genes and heredity, researchers had to learn to read the DNA code. — Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR, 7 Nov. 2025 In short, heredity advancement driven by desire. — D. Scott Schmid, Denver Post, 22 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for heredity

Recent Examples of Synonyms for heredity

Noun

Can a common cholesterol drug reduce forever chemicals in human blood?

— AJ Willingham, AJC.com, 24 Sep. 2026
Continuous glucose monitors are placed on the skin and measure glucose levels in the fluid between cells, a level similar to that in the blood, greatly reducing the need for finger-stick testing.

— Crystal Gwizdala, Hartford Courant, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of blood

Noun

Those women provided a genealogy of aspirations and ideas from which Kingsolver fashioned herself and her sense of the world.

— Casey Cep, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026
Santiago, Clark said, is the first person to be convicted by a jury in New York State because of the use of investigative genetic genealogy.

— Rebecca White, New York Daily News, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of genealogy

Noun

The line as verb replaces the orthogonal, producing—in relation to a succession of horizons—multiple centers.

— Jeffrey Weiss, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Lynch’s appointment came as a result of regular succession planning typical of public companies, said a person close to Mattel who was not authorized to be named.

— Samantha Masunaga, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of succession

Noun

Mosquitoes need only one tablespoon of water to breed, so areas like rain gutters, birdbaths or buckets with stagnant water are all possible breeding sites.

— Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 29 Sep. 2026
Crate-trained, traveling only with bamboo, water, treats Ping Ping and Fu Shuang began their 8,000-mile journey in the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, the largest panda breeding facility in China.

— Eduardo Cuevas, CNN Money, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of breeding

Noun

She's talked publicly about how the New Zealand coastal aesthetic and the California one felt like natural relatives.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 26 Sep. 2026
Tents have been set up at the Nepal Police Hospital in Kathmandu, where relatives can provide DNA samples to help identify the dead.

— ABC News, ABC News, 26 Sep. 2026

Definition of relatives

Noun

Worst off were those displaced from the parish of their birth, driven out by conflict or condemnation.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
However, because the Food and Drug Administration has warned about a potential for birth abnormalities, it is not recommended for women who are pregnant or who want to get pregnant.

— Lindsey Bever, Washington Post, 26 Sep. 2026

Definition of birth

Browse Nearby Words

heredities

heredity

hereinbelow

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Heredity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heredity. Accessed 1 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of heredity

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster on heredity

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

slew

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes