ANCESTRESS Synonyms: 31 Similar and Opposite Words

ancestress

noun

Definition of ancestress

as in grandmother

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

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 ancestress Meanwhile, Alice, Dana’s ancestress, never becomes much more than a moral quandary: a stubborn victim who is unable to adapt. — Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 8 Mar. 2021 Yang Asha is the mythical ancestress of the Miao people, an ethnic minority in China closely related to the Hmong of Southeast Asia. — Keith Bradsher, New York Times, 26 Nov. 2020 His own mother, aged ninety, who remembered her aunt, had been able to share stories of their ancestress with the grandchildren who’d had no idea, before now, what their background might be. — Susan Choi, Harper's magazine, 6 Jan. 2020 Enshrined at Kashikodokoro is the sun goddess Amaterasu, the mythological ancestress of Japan’s emperors. — Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2019 Enshrined at Kashikodokoro is the sun goddess Amaterasu, the mythological ancestress of Japan's emperors. — NBC News, 22 Oct. 2019 The intersection of these two facts does convince me that William's genealogical ancestress, Eliza Kewark, did have South Asian ancestry (not totally surprising even in notionally ethnically distinct groups like Armenians or Parsis who have been long resident in India). — Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 14 June 2013

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ancestress

Noun

Dondi Voigt Persyn, a mother of three and grandmother of four from Boerne, Texas – on a hill above the Guadalupe River about 35 miles from the disaster zone – joined as a volunteer.

— Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN Money, 6 July 2026
By the time Harry reached Balmoral on his own, his grandmother was dead.

— Jennifer Hassan, USA Today, 6 July 2026

Definition of grandmother

Noun

Brown remembered that Sarah Parsley, the octogenarian matriarch of the family, greeted partygoers from a wheelchair, assisted by a Black nurse.

— Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 3 July 2026
After high school, the Kelce matriarch became the first person in her family to graduate from college, earning a bachelor’s degree in communications from Ohio University.

— Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 2 July 2026

Definition of matriarch

Noun

This type of eating pattern mimics the pattern of our ancestors, which is directly connected with our innate metabolism.

— Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 6 July 2026
Gendron said his ancestors were among the first outsiders to settle the island in the 1700s, when three brothers, fur traders all, left Canada and followed the Mississippi south.

— Andrew Carter, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026

Definition of ancestor

Noun

Through our hair and its many rituals, remain the herbalism of our foremothers in the new world, passing down their ingenuity of homemade balms, creams, and oils for hair growth.

— Eshe Ukweli, refinery29.com, 7 June 2023
In fact, precursors to modern bleaching processes didn’t come on the scene until the turn of the 20th century, leaving our foremothers and forefathers plenty of time to get creative with their blonde pursuits.

— AJ Willingham, CNN, 28 May 2023

Definition of foremother

Noun

For anyone wanting to see or experience the sites and vestiges of Miami’s ancient inhabitants, the people known as Tequesta and their even more enigmatic Archaic forebears, there are only a few places to go.

— Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 30 June 2026
For 17 generations, Wietse Van Der Werf’s forebears toiled as dockworkers, shipbuilders, and sea captains in the Netherlands and its colonies.

— Richard Morgan, Time, 29 June 2026

Definition of forebear

Browse Nearby Words

ancestral

ancestress

ancestresses

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Ancestress.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ancestress. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of ancestress

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

gambol

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Popular in Wordplay

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes