Founding Fathers

American  

plural noun

1. the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787.

2. (often lowercase) any group of founders.

   the town's founding fathers.

---

Founding Fathers Cultural  

1. A general name for male American patriots during the Revolutionary War, especially the signers of the Declaration of Independence and those who drafted the Constitution. John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington were all Founding Fathers.

---

Example Sentences

A second limited-edition passport showed a historic painting of the US Founding Fathers.

From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026

Imagine if the Founding Fathers were dropped into a Pittsburgh tavern on a fall Sunday afternoon with a Steelers game on.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 3, 2026

Since the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, a two-party system emerged with the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 5, 2025

He regrets that due to the destruction of her own letters, historians could not tell a well-developed story about her, unlike other wives of the Founding Fathers, like Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, and Dolley Madison.

From Slate • Oct. 21, 2025

I squinted at him, trying to remember all of America’s Founding Fathers.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin