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

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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 Ng, who is Jo Henderson’s oncologist, noted that her previous research found that women who ate more ultraprocessed foods had a higher risk of colon polyps that can be precursors to cancer. — Kaitlin Sullivan, NBC news, 2 Oct. 2026 The coal and steel organization was the first among European institutions that were precursors to what eventually became the European Union. — ABC News, 28 Sep. 2026 Depots could reconstitute expended stocks on site, as quickly as mineral precursors can be extracted and processed. — Dan Driscoll, Foreign Affairs, 28 Sep. 2026 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for precursors

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

The changes would have affected the environments in which life developed and evolved, from the age of the dinosaurs through to some of our oldest primate ancestors.

— Keith Cooper, Space.com, 13 Oct. 2026
In his view, Flagg Mountain’s fire-scarred stumps corroborate what his community already knew—that their ancestors used fire for centuries—and reinforce their sense of responsibility to care for the land.

— M. R. O’Connor, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of ancestors

Noun

The doctor's group, known as ACOG, recommends hormone replacement therapy alongside certain antidepressants, nonhormonal medicines, and other treatments to address symptoms like hot flashes, insomnia and mood swings.

— Shannon Firth, NPR, 16 Oct. 2026
In those who do have symptoms, however, the most common are related to the lungs, including a persistent cough, shortness of breath or coughing up blood.

— Angelica Stabile , Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of symptoms

Noun

Related What were once blips on the modern music timeline now feel like harbingers of things to come for 2027.

— Leila Cobo, Billboard, 2 Oct. 2026
Culture and History Crows and ravens have similarly eerie reputations as spooky harbingers of death or danger.

— Blythe Copeland, Martha Stewart, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of harbingers

Noun

The woman understood from her hasty reading that perhaps all miracles could be attributed to saints and angels if they were experienced by a believer.

— Ellen O’Connell Whittet, Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2026
Every nightfall is different — different seasonal colors, angels, weather, celestial glows, grasses and shadows.

— Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of angels

Noun

This increasingly seamless connection between runway collections and store stock heralds a new meaning for commercial, repositioning the role of the runway.

— Joe Bobowicz, Vogue, 8 Oct. 2026
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

Definition of heralds

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“Precursors.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/precursors. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of precursors

noun

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