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 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 There had been precursors to Five Star Weekend and Ride Or Die‘s breakthrough. — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 4 Aug. 2026 Laboratory demonstrations have already shown production pathways for lubricant precursors, munition components, active pharmaceutical ingredients, bioplastics, and single-cell proteins. — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 24 July 2026 In this study, published last month in Science, researchers found that as mice got close to the end of their pregnancies, placental levels of NAD+ and its precursors dropped off fast. — Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 20 July 2026 The faction’s precursors backed ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Muhammad’s son-in-law and cousin, immediately after Muhammad’s death in 632. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 July 2026 Comets are also rich with organic compounds that could serve as precursors for biochemistry. — Darryl Z. Seligman, Scientific American, 10 July 2026 These two motivations – toward others and toward disagreement – are precursors to civility. — Deborah Mower, The Conversation, 2 July 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
  • His ancestors moved there in the 1850's, and their photos and other archives are preserved inside the Roseville Historical Society museum.
    — James Taylor, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026
  • This response was presumably adaptive to prevent our ancestors from becoming underweight but is disastrous for today’s dieters.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of ancestors
Noun
  • Early symptoms of contracting the amoeba can include headache, fever, nausea, and vomiting, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
    — Diego Mendoza, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2026
  • The advisory follows glutathione’s use in the Altadena and Spokane wildfires and recalls at two pharmacies, where usage was linked to fevers, chills, severe headaches and other symptoms.
    — Martha Bellisle, Los Angeles Times, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of symptoms
Noun
  • Then, after a series of eerie harbingers, the Platts discover the power and water in the house have shut off in the aftermath of an intense storm, and the atmosphere outside has turned unsettling and oddly tropical.
    — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 12 Aug. 2026
  • 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.
    — Moises Mendez II, InStyle, 29 June 2026
Definition of harbingers
Noun
  • The ultimate effect of Fedorov appeal to everyone’s better angels, is that Zelensky is weakened, the questions of his electoral legitimacy amplified, and the call for an end to the war bolstered.
    — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2026
  • That notion flattens a complex record and turns history into a morality play of angels and demons.
    — Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of angels
Noun
  • Few signs of humanity interrupted the rocky shoreline — just a couple of cabins and the wooden railings of a path leading to a wizened cedar tree revered by the tribe.
    — Michael Hawthorne, Chicago Tribune, 23 Aug. 2026
  • Dugger was the main talking point in defensive coordinator Raheem Morris’ press conference Saturday, because all signs are pointing to Dugger having a key role in the defense.
    — Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of signs
Noun
  • The heralds operate like independent contractors, with their own caseloads.
    — Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 9 June 2026
  • 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.
    — Will Sabel Courtney, Robb Report, 28 May 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

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precursors
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Cite this Entry

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

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