FORERUNNER Synonyms: 54 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How is the word 'forerunner' distinct from other similar nouns?

Some common synonyms of forerunner are harbinger , herald , and precursor . While all these words mean "one that goes before or announces the coming of another," forerunner is applicable to anything that serves as a sign or presage. // the blockade was the forerunner of war

Q: How do 'harbinger' and 'herald' relate to one another, in the sense of 'forerunner'?

Harbinger and herald both apply, chiefly figuratively, to one that proclaims or announces the coming or arrival of a notable event. // their early victory was the harbinger of a winning season // the herald of a new age in medicine

Q: When would 'precursor' be a good substitute for 'forerunner'?

The synonyms precursor and forerunner are sometimes interchangeable, but precursor applies to a person or thing paving the way for the success or accomplishment of another. // 18th century poets like Burns were precursors of the Romantics

forerunner

noun

ˈfȯr-ˌrə-nər

Definition of forerunner next

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How is the word forerunner distinct from other similar nouns?

Some common synonyms of forerunner are harbinger, herald, and precursor. While all these words mean "one that goes before or announces the coming of another," forerunner is applicable to anything that serves as a sign or presage.

the blockade was the forerunner of war

How do harbinger and herald relate to one another, in the sense of forerunner?

Harbinger and herald both apply, chiefly figuratively, to one that proclaims or announces the coming or arrival of a notable event.

their early victory was the harbinger of a winning season

the herald of a new age in medicine

When would precursor be a good substitute for forerunner?

The synonyms precursor and forerunner are sometimes interchangeable, but precursor applies to a person or thing paving the way for the success or accomplishment of another.

18th century poets like Burns were precursors of the Romantics

Examples 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 forerunner Lilly developed its forerunner more than 30 years prior, according to reporting from FiercePharma. Market pricing for prescription drugs creates the incentives that perpetuate this cycle of innovation. —

Sally Pipes, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024 Dunham became, in time, a kind of spiritual mother to him—a forerunner in his fight to establish a school where Black dance idioms could be studied. —

Hilton Als, The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2024 Psittacosaurus Paleontologists expected to find feathers and their forerunners around the skeletons of bird-like dinosaurs. —

Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 Sep. 2024 Its divergent economies, societies, and governments are integrated in ways that would have been unthinkable when the Treaty of Rome, which brought about the creation of the European Economic Community, the forerunner of the European Union, was signed in 1957. —

Francis J. Gavin, Foreign Affairs, 19 Jan. 2022 See all Example Sentences for forerunner

Recent Examples of Synonyms for forerunner

Noun

Most of the fentanyl entering the U.S. is produced by Mexican drug cartels in clandestine labs using precursor chemicals smuggled from Asia, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2024
As head of the DEA, Chronister would be expected to play a key role in that effort, overseeing efforts to interdict drugs from Mexico and fentanyl precursor chemicals from China.

Josh Meyer, USA TODAY, 1 Dec. 2024