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.

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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.

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Example Sentences

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

From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026

America’s Founding Fathers used their positions to influence public health, recognizing early on that the economic, social and political vitality of the nation was intertwined with the physical health of its citizens.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

Granado-Gomez said voting is an important way to make a change — but refusing to pay taxes is a longtime tactic that goes back to the Founding Fathers, he added.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 6, 2026

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

Not surprisingly, then, preventing arbitrary searches and seizures by the police was deemed by the Founding Fathers an essential element of the U.S.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander