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:
That forebear was a 1961 pop-up where the artist made and sold his own rough-hewn goods.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
However, the “Love Story” forebear that matters most in this discussion is not John F. Kennedy or Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, played here by “Feud” star Naomi Watts.
From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2026
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
At the moment, none of the new hominins is convincing as a direct forebear of Homo.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 3, 2024
High above us, Ayanna clung to Thandiwe’s back as they rode up through the mountain on the warrior girl’s forebear.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
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
On view at LACMA, David Hockney’s ‘Seven Yorkshire Landscape Videos’ travels country roads, recording the scene in ways that echo artistic forebears.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
Ms. Simard’s own forebears worked the Canadian forests in this manner, which has the virtue of leaving lots of organic material behind while going easy on the springy, carbon-rich forest floor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
Part of it may be a simple reluctance to credit that the culture of liberty held so essential to the identity of the United States could have so many different forebears.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions 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.
