forebear
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of forebear
1425–75; Middle English (Scots), equivalent to fore- fore- + -bear “being,” variant of beer; 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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Beowulf vocabulary
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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.
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
Frances Dinkenspiel is an author and journalist who has written a lot about California, including the book “Towers of Gold,” about her forebear, the pioneering banker and landowner Isaias Hellman.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 16, 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
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.
