PRECURSORS Synonyms: 54 Similar and Opposite Words

precursors

noun

plural of precursor

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

Relevance

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

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Recent Examples of precursors 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. —

Lee Billings, Scientific American, 18 June 2026 Tort claims are necessary precursors to potential lawsuits against the government. —

Nicole Blanchard, Idaho Statesman, 16 June 2026 Many scientists believe that the vocal systems of great apes were too limited to be considered precursors of human language, but the work of Crockford, Berthet and their colleagues suggests otherwise. —

Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 3 June 2026 These foods don’t have sky-high amounts of melatonin, and some contain more precursors to melatonin than the hormone itself, Tahir says. —

Sarah Klein, Time, 28 May 2026 People across the country are seeking millions through federal tort claims, precursors to possible lawsuits. —

Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2026 Could these be precursors to output deals? —

Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 22 May 2026 These are the behavioral precursors to the outcomes the lagging indicators will eventually measure, and building them in changes what leaders pay attention to daily, not just what they are evaluated against annually. —

Vibhas Ratanjee, Forbes.com, 19 May 2026 And then, thanks to the precursors to the storm that ultimately ended the first round early — the wind, above all else — the weather made the last few shots on the course brutal. —

Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 8 May 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for precursors

Noun

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, ABC News, 22 Mar. 2026