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precursors

noun

plural of precursor
1
as in forerunners
one that announces or indicates the later arrival of another 18th-century lyric poets like Robert Burns were precursors of the Romantics

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in ancestors
something belonging to an earlier time from which something else was later developed a precursor of the modern eggplant

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 precursors In June, the co-founder of the citizen watchdog group, DeFlock Idaho, Tyler Cain, filed a pair of tort claims against the cities of Caldwell and Wilder — civil claims which act as possible precursors to lawsuits. — Idaho Statesman, 20 Sep. 2026 The regulations were intended to reduce air pollution and acid rain precursors mainly from trucks and buses. — Jamie Webster, The Conversation, 17 Sep. 2026 This event, which resulted in the death of enslaver Edward Gorsuch, heightened tensions between the North and South and was one of the many precursors to the American Civil War. — Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, 11 Sep. 2026 Two other groups received Lasker Awards, which are often precursors for Nobel Prizes. — O. Rose Broderick, STAT, 10 Sep. 2026 These signs can be precursors to dysfunction and disease, per the researchers, including heart failure and atrial fibrillation (commonly known as AFib). — Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2026 The Voyager launched Monday will make the closest approach to Saturn’s seventh moon, Titan — which has an atmosphere perhaps as dense as Earth’s and a surface that could be littered with the organic precursors of life. — Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 7 Sep. 2026 The ideology of Third Worldism and the New Agey, anything-goes-style progressivism of the West Coast that Naipaul so keenly lacerates were necessary precursors to the mass death in Guyana. — James Kirchick, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2026 Jack Kilby, the inventor of the integrated circuit, or microchip, and the handheld calculator—early precursors of AI. — Jordan Blum, Fortune, 8 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for precursors
  1. forerunners
  2. ancestors
  3. symptoms
  4. harbingers
  5. angels
  6. signs
  7. heralds
  8. outriders
Noun
  • Margaret and Alice are the forerunners of Lucy and Ethel, and Shakespeare’s comedy, written expressly to entertain, gives us a sense of what an Elizabethan-era situation comedy might look like.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2026
  • One of the forerunners today in Madeira and the Azores is António Maçanita from Azores Wine Company.
    — Forbes.com, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
Definition of forerunners
Noun
  • Their ancestors had entered the United States through Southern ports, especially New Orleans and Galveston, which gave them a different political and cultural orientation from those who had entered through the East, and above all through New York.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026
  • While the complexities around working within a park that his ancestors had been removed from remain, Mgesi now supports much of his extended family with the steady wage.
    — Juliet Kinsman, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of ancestors
Noun
  • The viral disease causes a blotchy rash and flulike symptoms but can develop into severe, life-threatening illnesses, such as pneumonia and brain swelling.
    — Lauren J. Young, Scientific American, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Instead, medical guidelines typically recommend testosterone for men who report symptoms — including low libido and depressed mood — and have two blood tests confirming low levels of the hormone.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of symptoms
Noun
  • Culture and History Crows and ravens have similarly eerie reputations as spooky harbingers of death or danger.
    — Blythe Copeland, Martha Stewart, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Our results, just published in the journal Science, suggest that the 1982-83 and 1997-98 El Niños – two of the strongest in recent memory – may be harbingers of more extreme events to come as the planet warms.
    — Julia Cole, The Conversation, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of harbingers
Noun
  • Though Pachinko featured more angels than demons, Lee still convincingly inhabited Koh Hansu, the gangster and groomer.
    — Sanjena Sathian, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Black sheep and angels Team leader Spencer agreed that, based on the photos taken by the divers, the wreckage has all the signs of being a Corsair.
    — Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of angels
Noun
  • Along Fullerton Avenue in Belmont Cragin, multilingual signs hanging in storefront windows reflect the diversity of a community with roots stretching across Latin America.
    — Allison Kiehl, Chicago Tribune, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Advanced signs include anxiety, confusion, agitation, hallucinations, extreme thirst paired with panic at the sight of fluids, heavy saliva and aggressive thrashing or biting.
    — The Sacramento Bee staff, Sacbee.com, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of signs
Noun
  • The project heralds from Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, two of the four co-directors behind 2025 Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land.
    — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Now Pedicularis had emerged as one of the first heralds of the Arctic summer, its stems wrapped in grayish, silky hairs that protect it like a warm winter coat.
    — Denise Hruby, Miami Herald, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of heralds
Noun
  • His deputies and outriders are not quite so deft.
    — Sam Knight, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2025
  • Churchill Downs outriders, jockey agents, jockeys Florent Geroux and Julian Leperoux, as well as members of Lukas' barn staff also sat in the crowd.
    — Stephanie Kuzydym, Louisville Courier Journal, 19 Aug. 2025
Definition of outriders

Browse Nearby Words

precursor
precursors
precursory
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Cite this Entry

“Precursors.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/precursors. Accessed 26 Sep. 2026.

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