as in founders
a person who establishes a whole new field of endeavor
Theodor Herzl is often credited as the founding father of modern Zionism
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Recent Examples of founding fathers
Its goal is to undo the founding fathers' vision of India as a secular country, home to people with many faiths.
—
Rob Schmitz, NPR, 25 Apr. 2026
Widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of hip-hop, Grandmaster Flash revolutionized the art of DJing, according to a press release shared with PEOPLE.
—Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 23 Apr. 2026
Thanks to the brilliance of our founding fathers, there are some areas where governments are strictly limited in their ability to consider trade-offs.
—Steven Greenhut, Oc Register, 3 Apr. 2026
Our founding fathers experienced the heavy hand of a tyrannical government.
—Arkansas Online, 10 Mar. 2026
Legendary Chicago Bears owner George Halas was one of the founding fathers of the NFL.
—Ryan Baker, CBS News, 7 Mar. 2026
This is not the America our founding fathers envisioned — not one where journalists face arrest for covering protests and holding power accountable.
—Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 21 Feb. 2026
Biery compared the administration's actions to those of King George III cited by the founding fathers in the Declaration of Independence.
—Christopher Cann, USA Today, 11 Feb. 2026
Atop Connecticut’s state Capitol building, Captain John Mason, depicted in his 1637 attack on the Pequots in Mystic, is enshrined among the state’s founding fathers.
—Livi Stanford, Hartford Courant, 31 Jan. 2026
Rob Schmitz, NPR, 25 Apr. 2026
Widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of hip-hop, Grandmaster Flash revolutionized the art of DJing, according to a press release shared with PEOPLE.
—Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 23 Apr. 2026
Thanks to the brilliance of our founding fathers, there are some areas where governments are strictly limited in their ability to consider trade-offs.
—Steven Greenhut, Oc Register, 3 Apr. 2026
Our founding fathers experienced the heavy hand of a tyrannical government.
—Arkansas Online, 10 Mar. 2026
Legendary Chicago Bears owner George Halas was one of the founding fathers of the NFL.
—Ryan Baker, CBS News, 7 Mar. 2026
This is not the America our founding fathers envisioned — not one where journalists face arrest for covering protests and holding power accountable.
—Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 21 Feb. 2026
Biery compared the administration's actions to those of King George III cited by the founding fathers in the Declaration of Independence.
—Christopher Cann, USA Today, 11 Feb. 2026
Atop Connecticut’s state Capitol building, Captain John Mason, depicted in his 1637 attack on the Pequots in Mystic, is enshrined among the state’s founding fathers.
—Livi Stanford, Hartford Courant, 31 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for founding fathers
Noun
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Though OpenAI was making progress on research and development, Musk had demanded that Altman and other co-founders, including Brockman and Ilya Sutskever, make a list of employees and their key contributions, and fire everyone who didn't immediately make the grade, filings show.—
Ashley Capoot,Lora Kolodny,
CNBC,
18 May 2026
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Most founders built their identities around judgment, the ability to read a situation, weigh tradeoffs, and act.—
Rhett Power,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2026
Noun
-
Online, this generally meant that creators encouraged their followers to pair a healthy habit with a fun or existing one (scrolling while walking on the treadmill, for example) or to just link two good behaviors together (folding laundry between breaks of your at-home workout).—
Julia Landwehr,
Health,
18 May 2026
-
YouTube partnered with French distributor MK2 for a Friday-night beach party attended by creators including Markiplier and Creator Camp founder Max Reisinger.—
Dana Harris-Bridson,
IndieWire,
18 May 2026
Noun
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In November 2025, the fathers told the court about their child’s birth and a day later, Uthmeier, the AG, began pushing his way into this case.—
Ann Marie Luft,
The Orlando Sentinel,
14 May 2026
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Softness and even open expression of feelings between fathers and sons are not part of the male Circassian factory model.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
13 May 2026
Noun
-
Hemingway, because of his privileged-expat life among brown people, was the whitest of all white authors, the god of all Mythical English Readers, and this is why his DNA runs so deep in American letters today.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 May 2026
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The authors found distinctive puncture marks, skeletal damage and dismemberment patterns, all of which were consistent with an apex predator that immobilizes prey through concentrated gripping force, rather than prolonged tearing or chewing.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Founding fathers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/founding%20fathers. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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