predecessors

plural of predecessor
as in forerunners
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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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 predecessors The figure appears to be higher than for Sorrells’ predecessors. — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Oct. 2026 Mamdani's two immediate predecessors as mayor had both called to end the industry, but neither succeeded. — ABC News, 22 Oct. 2026 Finally, Season 3 received eight Emmy nominations, more than both its predecessors combined. — Alison Herman, Variety, 22 Oct. 2026 All of these elements together create a film that is decidedly more lifelike than its predecessors. — Andrew Webster, The Verge, 22 Oct. 2026 Like their East India predecessors, the leaders of the largest AI labs negotiate with presidents and cabinet secretaries. — Niall Ferguson, Foreign Affairs, 20 Oct. 2026 Budget negotiations are increasingly fraught in France and have toppled two of Lecornu's recent predecessors in recent years. — Jenni Reid, CNBC, 19 Oct. 2026 Meet the 2026-27 Lakers, a team that will look different, sound different, feel different, play different and behave different from their recent predecessors in every way but one. — Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026 Unlike his predecessors, Rider works from the Paris studio full time. — Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 16 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for predecessors
Noun
  • Rather than try to replicate his forerunners’ styles of success, Ternus has so far played to his own strengths—which are also those of Apple, a company that first and foremost builds beautiful products that spark productivity, creativity, and joy.
    — Andrew R. Chow, Time, 15 Oct. 2026
  • 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
Noun
  • Throughout the region, remains of 5,500 ancestors that were displaced have been made available for return to the Tohono O’odham Nation, according to ProPublica’s NAGPRA database.
    — Ryan Devereaux, ProPublica, 2 Nov. 2026
  • What began as a personal offering to her ancestors evolved into a recognizable symbol of cultural visibility across the city.
    — Ana Gutierrez, Austin American Statesman, 31 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • The company says its indigo process uses soluble precursors that oxidize into insoluble pigment within the textile, avoiding the chemical reduction step used in conventional indigo dyeing.
    — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Should tens of thousands of American lives have been saved as a result of decisions made about fentanyl precursors in China, the implications are massive.
    — J. Travis Donahoe, STAT, 23 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Predecessors.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/predecessors. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

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