as in forerunner
something belonging to an earlier time from which something else was later developed the once-ubiquitous typewriter was the predecessor of today's electronic keyboard

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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 predecessor But compared to its predecessor, this season is the better, more appealing, and more confident version of The Bear. Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 26 June 2025 Times staff writer Lila Seidman reports that a May 27 legal opinion by President Trump’s DOJ overturns a more than 80-year-old Justice Department determination that presidents can’t revoke national monuments created by their predecessors under the Antiquities Act. Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2025 Seely, who has served as president of Varsity Spirit since 2017—and began his career as an instructor with its predecessor organization, the Universal Cheerleaders Association, in 1989—said he’s been considering a professional league for more than a decade. Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 18 June 2025 While acknowledging there is more work to be done, both schools chancellors under Mayor Adams — Melissa Aviles-Ramos and her predecessor David Banks — have largely resisted calls from progressives to implement large-scale integration policies. Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, 18 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for predecessor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for predecessor
Noun
  • The killer is a man who, for all his delusions, pokes at the other men’s complacency and domesticity — making this thriller a forerunner of everything from Easy Rider to The Hitcher to Collateral. 20.
    Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 27 June 2025
  • Here is a look at some of the most likely forerunners to serve as the 267th pope, according to public reporting.
    Caitlin McFall, FOXNews.com, 21 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • The gift of 'The Mahabharata' that my ancestors gave me is truly the gift that keeps giving.
    Michael Barnes, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025
  • The same ancestor who founded this homestead left his own family behind in Georgia; that cold resolve is Hailey’s inheritance too.
    Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2025
Noun
  • Organizations can measure psychological safety data as a precursor to inclusion.
    Julie Kratz, Forbes.com, 29 June 2025
  • Washington said the firms funneled money to Chinese firms that produce the precursors for fentanyl, the powerful synthetic opioid that has stoked a drug epidemic in the US.
    Ben Smith, semafor.com, 27 June 2025

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“Predecessor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/predecessor. Accessed 14 Jul. 2025.

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