PREDECESSORS Synonyms: 26 Similar and Opposite Words

predecessors

noun

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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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 Like their strongest predecessors, all three of the new adaptations riff on the source material. — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 27 July 2026 The increase in gray divorces might start to plateau when millennials – who got married under very different circumstances and social attitudes than their predecessors – start aging into retirement, said Park. — Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 26 July 2026 Under Tan’s predecessors, Intel lost its manufacturing technology leadership and failed to capitalize on the AI frenzy. — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 24 July 2026 The $514 million facility features enhanced security screening and more public spaces than its predecessors, including larger jury assembly areas. — Vince Basada july 24, Sacbee.com, 24 July 2026 None of his predecessors have served two full terms since the job was created in 1993. — ABC News, 24 July 2026 Anthropic also said the model was easier to use than its predecessors, requiring less back and forth. — Emily Forlini, Fortune, 24 July 2026 Nearly every person in the arena was on their feet, including a cohort of incoming Jayhawks watching in awe to see if their predecessors could complete a 14-point second half comeback to defeat the K-State alumni squad at Washburn’s arena. — Latif Love july 23, Kansas City Star, 23 July 2026 The May increase is potentially troubling to a president who, like many of his predecessors, does not like trade deficits. — Ken Roberts, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for predecessors

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

At some point in the mid-1850s, the river Padma suddenly carved a new path through the village of his ancestors in modern-day Bangladesh, flooding their homes and scattering them across the Indian subcontinent.

— Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 20 July 2026
All across the United States, federal soldiers rounded up our Native American ancestors like cattle, pushing them into prison camps, many of which later became reservations.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 20 July 2026

Definition of ancestors

Noun

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

Definition of precursors

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predecessor

predecessors

predestinate

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“Predecessors.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/predecessors. Accessed 28 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of predecessors

noun

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