PROGENITOR Synonyms: 37 Similar and Opposite Words

progenitor

noun

prō-ˈje-nə-tər

Definition of progenitor

as in ancestor

a person who is several generations earlier in an individual's line of descent the progenitors of today's Maya once ruled a mighty empire that stretched across much of Central America

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of progenitor So perhaps a certain signaling molecule preferentially accumulates more on one side of a neural progenitor cell than the other. — Quanta Magazine, 13 July 2026 Yet that same year, Brynjolfsson got access to GPT-3, a progenitor of ChatGPT. — Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 29 June 2026 The ultimate sports podcast The progenitor to the growth of sports podcasts has to be Only A Game. — Frank Racioppi, Forbes.com, 15 June 2026 In her account, Richmond indeed emerges as its progenitor—through his theorizing, his behind-the-scenes parliamentary and polemical maneuvering, and his patronage of Thomas Paine. — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 8 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for progenitor

Recent Examples of Synonyms for progenitor

Noun

The discovery led to a complete redesign of the project, shifting the hotel inland to preserve the sacred site and honor the ancestors who remain there.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Oct. 2026
The small, troubled Trask family represents isolation, generational trauma and dysfunctional cycles in contrast to the large, loving and morally grounded Hamilton family, who are modeled after Steinbeck’s own maternal ancestors.

— Senior Television, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of ancestor

Noun

The job-for-life that Fink remembers looked a lot like the one Farley went on to describe about his own grandfather, who worked for Ford.

— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026
But where John Steinbeck’s novel and the 1955 film made by Kazan’s grandfather Elia Kazan render her as a cipher, the embodiment of an unknowable evil, the Netflix version gives her far more texture and context.

— Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of grandfather

Noun

Ellison clinched the deal by sweetening the offer price and bringing his father, Larry Ellison, in to personally guarantee funding.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 7 Oct. 2026
Gyllenhaal’s father, Stephen Gyllenhaal, is a director and her mother, Naomi Foner, a screenwriter.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of father

Browse Nearby Words

profusions

progenitor

progenitors

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Progenitor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/progenitor. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of progenitor

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

inscrutable

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

Popular

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes