1
as in precursor
one that announces or indicates the later arrival of another
the return of the swallows is traditionally regarded as a forerunner of spring
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2
as in ancestor
something belonging to an earlier time from which something else was later developed
enjoyed the demonstration of the simple hand loom that was the forerunner of today's computer-controlled looms
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of forerunner
Beretta traces its history to 1526, when Bartolomeo Beretta (d. 1565), a rifle barrel maker in the small northern Italian town of Gardone, sold 185 arquebus barrels—a handheld long gun and a forerunner to the modern rifle—to the Republic of Venice.
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Giacomo Tognini, Forbes, 25 Mar. 2025
The current tax extension bill could add substantially more to the deficit than its forerunner.
—Tobias Burns, The Hill, 14 Mar. 2025
Although Oberon did not win, decades later she would be acknowledged as a forerunner among South Asian actors.
—Kendra Nordin Beato, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 Mar. 2025
Colossal plans to recreate these creatures by editing the genome of the extinct animal’s closest living relative to make a hybrid animal that would be visually indistinguishable from its extinct forerunner.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 16 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for forerunner
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forerunner
Noun
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Passionate about utopian socialism and architecture, Gaudí’s forms and shapes were totally fresh, otherworldly and are sometimes referred to as a precursor of the Surrealist movement, of which Salvator Dalí was a key proponent.—
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Back then, President Barack Obama cancelled the space agency’s Constellation program—the precursor of Artemis, which was aiming to have bootprints back on the moon as early as 2015.—
Noun
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Porter County Board of Commissioners President Jim Biggs noted his ancestors were among the first white settlers in the county in 1835, at a settlement a few hundred feet from the site.—
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Moringa oleifera is native to Indian subcontinent, particularly the Himalayan foothills, while another species, Moringa stenopetala, grows in the Horn of Africa: southern Ethiopia, northern Kenya, and even Somalia, where Elba’s ancestors are from.—
Noun
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So the fact that Xbox games are now free to land on any platform might be a harbinger of things to come, and this could give Microsoft a foundational head-start in the race toward a different future.—
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As the United States withdraws and international institutions decay, their ordeal may be a harbinger of what is to come.—
Noun
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Google’s Project Mariner technology, which the company announced as a research prototype last year, will be able to accomplish certain tasks on a person’s behalf and answer questions that usually require multiple steps, the company claims.—
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Real Ice hopes to test a prototype this year, says co-CEO Andrea Ceccolini, an Italian computer scientist and investor who joined the company in 2022.—
Noun
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Like the Marvel comics, Shalla-Bal is the herald of Galactus, a planet-devouring behemoth who is voiced by Ralph Ineson in the movie.—
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In the original comics, the Silver Surfer was Norrin Radd, a male astronomer from the planet Zenn-La who became the herald of Galactus.—
Noun
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Tremors can be a sign of MS, Parkinson's disease, stroke, or another neurological condition.—
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This is a fabulous day for romance and warm, loving relations with others, because the Moon is in your sign, lined up with Venus in your sign, which is also close to Neptune in your sign.—
Noun
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After the initial prayers and thanking God, the universe and the angels, who and whatever has kept me alive and blessed me with an amazing life so far...—
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Every time a character on a TV show doesn’t call the police, an anti-carceral angel gets its wings.—
Cite this Entry
“Forerunner.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forerunner. Accessed 29 May. 2025.
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