Synonyms of predecessors

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• forerunners
• ancestors
• precursors
• prototypes
• antecedents
• originals
• granddaddies
• archetypes
• originators
• models
• mothers
• daddies
• foregoers
• fathers
• sires

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• descendants
• derivatives
• sons
• daughters
• offshoots
• outgrowths
• by-products
• spin-offs

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of predecessors

Burnham is trying to do things differently, but whether that will be enough to avoid the same forces which have claimed his last six predecessors is not yet clear. — Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 20 July 2026

Andy Burnham will become the UK prime minister today, facing the same list of economic and political problems that undermined several predecessors. — Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 20 July 2026

In the 2010s, both Theresa May and Boris Johnson became prime minister after winning Conservative leadership races when their predecessors resigned midterm. — ABC News, 18 July 2026

Like each of its predecessors, Cool Machine tells three related but essentially free-standing stories in chronological sequence. — David Hajdu, The Atlantic, 16 July 2026

Al Khafaji explained this as a deliberate workaround to the building-code fragmentation that killed many of its predecessors. — Lily Mae Lazarus, Fortune, 15 July 2026

Never mind that the modern Fed operates very differently from its pre-modern predecessors. — Noah Feldman, Mercury News, 14 July 2026

For example, the bones of his company’s G-Wagons are a Mercedes-Benz’s 2026 undercarriage made to look like its 1970s-era predecessors. — Zachary Hansen, AJC.com, 10 July 2026

Although new to the cruise industry, Virgin Voyages has already begun to set itself apart from its predecessors. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 July 2026