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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Recent Examples of predecessors
What drove Roosevelt to diverge from his predecessors in his press dealings?
—
JSTOR Daily, 7 Nov. 2025
In 1865, Congress tried and failed to fund a bust of him to be placed in the Capitol along with those of his predecessors.
—Equal Justice Initiative, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
Unlike its predecessors, the 1518, made in just 281 examples, featured a distinct dial layout that, according to Bacs, has influenced every single perpetual calendar chronograph that has been produced in the decades since.
—Victoria Gomelsky, Robb Report, 6 Nov. 2025
Zohran Mamdani, 34, will be the city’s youngest mayor in over a century, unlocking a new era of leadership that’s likely to look very different from his boomer predecessors.
—Jessica Coacci, Fortune, 6 Nov. 2025
Fake greenery has come a long way from its plastic predecessors.
—Kate McGregor, Architectural Digest, 5 Nov. 2025
Her three immediate predecessors had only reigned for eleven years between them.
—Literary Hub, 4 Nov. 2025
But the key thing to know is that Age of Imprisonment works harder than its predecessors to introduce compelling original characters that flesh out the various cultures of Hyrule better than either of the previous Warriors games — closer to the intricate lore of the mainline Zelda titles.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 4 Nov. 2025
On Tuesday, Sanae Takaichi met face-to-face with a man who has rattled leaders around the world, including her Japanese predecessors, on both security and economic fronts.
—Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 28 Oct. 2025
JSTOR Daily, 7 Nov. 2025
In 1865, Congress tried and failed to fund a bust of him to be placed in the Capitol along with those of his predecessors.
—Equal Justice Initiative, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
Unlike its predecessors, the 1518, made in just 281 examples, featured a distinct dial layout that, according to Bacs, has influenced every single perpetual calendar chronograph that has been produced in the decades since.
—Victoria Gomelsky, Robb Report, 6 Nov. 2025
Zohran Mamdani, 34, will be the city’s youngest mayor in over a century, unlocking a new era of leadership that’s likely to look very different from his boomer predecessors.
—Jessica Coacci, Fortune, 6 Nov. 2025
Fake greenery has come a long way from its plastic predecessors.
—Kate McGregor, Architectural Digest, 5 Nov. 2025
Her three immediate predecessors had only reigned for eleven years between them.
—Literary Hub, 4 Nov. 2025
But the key thing to know is that Age of Imprisonment works harder than its predecessors to introduce compelling original characters that flesh out the various cultures of Hyrule better than either of the previous Warriors games — closer to the intricate lore of the mainline Zelda titles.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 4 Nov. 2025
On Tuesday, Sanae Takaichi met face-to-face with a man who has rattled leaders around the world, including her Japanese predecessors, on both security and economic fronts.
—Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 28 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for predecessors
Noun
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Perfected by forerunners such as Fiona Apple and Alanis Morissette, this fall has already seen two music stars gift us with lay-it-all-out-there lyrics.—
Dan Heching,
CNN Money,
28 Oct. 2025
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Compared to their forerunners in the tsarist era, with their party congresses held abroad, their executive committees, and their active recruitment in imperial Russia’s universities, Soviet dissidents remained a comparatively small and informal conglomeration of activists.—
Benjamin Nathans
September 24,
Literary Hub,
24 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Her ancestors were from Russia, who later fled to Ukraine and settled in Philadelphia.—
Colleen Kratofil,
PEOPLE,
4 Nov. 2025
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The idea was to go back to the basic foods that their ancestors ate.—
Chrystle Fiedler,
USA Today,
4 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Trump said that Xi committed to cracking down on the production of fentanyl precursors as well in exchange for lowering tariffs on China.—
David Sivak,
The Washington Examiner,
31 Oct. 2025
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Alongside the minerals deal, Xi reportedly agreed to purchase additional American soybeans and to strengthen enforcement against the export of chemical precursors used to produce fentanyl—long a major sticking point in bilateral talks.—
Micah McCartney,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Predecessors.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/predecessors. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.
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