successor

American  

[suhk-ses-er] / səkˈsɛs ər /

noun

• successors
  plural

1. a person or thing that succeeds or follows.

2. a person who succeeds another in an office, position, or the like.

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successor British  

/ səkˈsɛsə /

noun

1. a person or thing that follows, esp a person who succeeds another in an office

2. logic the element related to a given element by a serial ordering, esp the natural number next larger to a given one. The successor of n is n + 1, usually written Sn or n′

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• successoral
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• successors
  plural

Etymology

Origin of successor

1250–1300; < Latin, equivalent to succed-, variant stem of succēdere to succeed + -tor -tor, with dt > ss; replacing Middle English successour < Anglo-French < Latin, as above

Explanation

If you are successor to the throne, that means you're next in line when the current royal has to step down. The successor takes over when someone gives up a position or title or when something becomes outdated. The noun successor was first used in the 13th century to mean "one who comes after." It's often used in reference to a royal court, where the successor is usually the king's eldest son. If something happens to the U.S. president, the vice president is the designated successor and will assume the position of head of government. It seems like every day there's a new and improved computer, a successor that replaces an earlier model.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

successor successors

In his filings, he accused successor trustee Paul Kanin of failing to pay out cash Reiner claims he was owed as far back as fall 2023.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

But Trump’s latest posts appear less interested in interrogating Washington than in imagining him as a collaborator — writing, riding and offering design tips to his 21st-century successor.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

"However, they have six months to find a good successor," he said, adding that he thought it likely that the next leader would be chosen from within the group.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

The chain’s business began stabilizing, and the board’s executive committee started looking into finding Masino’s successor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Joe McCormick was the successor to Karl Johnson—he had been appointed to the job when Johnson retired.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

But Zhu’s successors have reasserted party control over the economy’s commanding heights.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

As Cuba marks 100 years since Fidel Castro's birth, Cubans are questioning the promises of the socialist revolution he led for nearly half a century, and asking whether his successors are up to the job.

From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026

Earlier, he told an Edinburgh Fringe event that leading Scottish Labour was the hardest job in British politics and urged his potential successors to avoid infighting.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

Yet many of these widows, daughters, and other female successors were also savvy political operators, leaving behind genuine legislative legacies or winning office in their own right.

From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026

If seventeenth-century scientists did not see these problems solved, nevertheless they prepared the ground for their eighteenth-century successors, who did.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• replacement