forebears

noun

variants also forbears
plural of forebear
as in ancestors
a person who is several generations earlier in an individual's line of descent his forebears came to America on the Mayflower

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 forebears That freedom was also denied Native Americans, whose land our forebears took by force and coercion. — Douglas Brinkley, CBS News, 28 June 2026 Since then, Istanbul has seen only mayors from his AKP party and its forebears, the Welfare and Virtue parties. — Kaya Genç, The Dial, 9 June 2026 Back home in Wilmington, Cynthia Brown built community the way her forebears had built houses—tirelessly and elegantly in the course of years. — Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 3 July 2026 For 17 generations, Wietse Van Der Werf’s forebears toiled as dockworkers, shipbuilders, and sea captains in the Netherlands and its colonies. — Richard Morgan, Time, 29 June 2026 For anyone wanting to see or experience the sites and vestiges of Miami’s ancient inhabitants, the people known as Tequesta and their even more enigmatic Archaic forebears, there are only a few places to go. — Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 30 June 2026 Reopening the door to China in 1972, Richard Nixon reawakened his forebears’ dream of making China embrace American-style democracy and capitalism. — Wyatt Williams, Harpers Magazine, 2 June 2026 In 1786, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson visited the site to see where, almost a century and a half earlier, their forebears had fought to dethrone a king, showing the world that another system of government was possible. — Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 9 June 2026 Eight Dukes of Wellington and two very full centuries on from that 1825 procession, on this June 16, the 9th Duke rode, as each of his forbears did and as the future heirs to the ducal title will do, in the lead carriage with the king to open Royal Ascot. — Guy Martin, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forebears
  1. ancestors
  2. grandfathers
  3. fathers
Noun
  • Kean comes from a long line of public servants, stretching 250 years to the country’s founding when one of his ancestors became New Jersey’s first leader since independence.
    — Mike Catalini, Fortune, 30 June 2026
  • The driving force for the tour is the idea that Black Americans and Muslims must unapologetically tell their own story, something their ancestors couldn’t do.
    — Julie Carr Smyth, Chicago Tribune, 28 June 2026
Definition of ancestors
Noun
  • College football is nothing without traditions (see above), and ripping Notre Dame-USC from the calendar robs the next generation of fans of both schools from enjoying the game their fathers and grandfathers remember.
    — Pete Sampson, New York Times, 26 June 2026
  • One of his great-great-grandfathers, Ned, was enslaved in Texas before being freed on Juneteenth.
    — Calista Oetama, Hartford Courant, 22 June 2026
Definition of grandfathers
Noun
  • Russert and Sanders Townsend have bonded over losing their fathers.
    — Jay Stahl, USA Today, 1 July 2026
  • That would have been unlikely just a few years ago — when laws in this Muslim-majority nation forbade women freedom of travel without permission from husbands or fathers.
    — Charles Maynes, NPR, 27 June 2026
Definition of fathers

Browse Nearby Words

forebearers
forebears
forebode
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Cite this Entry

“Forebears.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forebears. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on forebears

Nglish: Translation of forebears for Spanish Speakers

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