forebear
Americannoun
-
forebears
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of forebear
1425–75; Middle English (Scots), equivalent to fore- fore- + -bear “being,” variant of beer; see be, -er 1
Explanation
Your father, grandmother, and great grandfather are all your forebears. A forebear is an ancestor, or someone you are descended from. You might have thought that forebear means to stop yourself from doing something. The word you are thinking of is forbear. Confused? The "e" makes all of the difference here. Whereas the first is a noun, the second is a verb. Just remember that if you see fore like in before, it's the people who came before you.
Vocabulary lists containing forebear
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Dept. of Speculation” by Jenny Offill is a forebear of the short-and-sweet literary canon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026
The “Love Story” forebear that matters most in this discussion is not John F. Kennedy or Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2026
When he retired after the 1953 season, Leahy had the second-best record in the history of college football, trailing only Knute Rockne, his forebear at Notre Dame.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2025
Named for its Star Trek forebear, Holodeck generates a virtually limitless range of indoor environments, using AI to interpret users' requests.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 11, 2024
She tipped the forebear forward and we hurtled down some more, and whatever protests I was going to make died in my throat.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
Learning about gay rights before Stonewall: It’s LGBTQ+ history month, which means it’s a great moment to learn more about our queer forebears.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026
The story has elements similar to popular summer blockbusters, but they’re so finely remixed and retooled that they don’t bear such exhausting resemblance to their forebears.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
He told Ugen he was "married to the movement" and his forebears had fought against China.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
This generation of ETFs isn’t just more expensive and risky than its forebears.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
The culture we belong to and the legacies passed down by our forebears shape the patterns of our achievement in ways we cannot begin to imagine.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
