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:
The “Love Story” forebear that matters most in this discussion is not John F. Kennedy or Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2026
Maye’s been so persuasive it’s provoking inevitable but treacherous comparisons to Brady, his carbohydrate-shunning forebear, now immortalized in 12 feet of handsome bronze outside the Foxborough gate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 29, 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
At the moment, none of the new hominins is convincing as a direct forebear of Homo.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 3, 2024
Ayanna leaped off the forebear as Thandiwe came to a stop.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
He told Ugen he was "married to the movement" and his forebears had fought against China.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
Social media, however, and its cabal of influencers operate along many of the same lines as their reality TV forebears.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 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
The University of Aberdeen will now lead a larger five-year exploration of the site, which archaeologists hope could reveal "a great deal about our early prehistoric forebears".
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026
They piled tables and chairs and forebears in front of the door before closing it.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
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.
