father 1 of 2

noun

ˈfä-t͟hər How to pronounce father (audio)
Definition of fathernext
1
as in dad
a male human parent the special relationship that exists between fathers and sons

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2
as in founder
a person who establishes a whole new field of endeavor Sir Isaac Newton is regarded by many as the father of modern science

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in grandfather
a person who is several generations earlier in an individual's line of descent our fathers founded this nation on the fundamental belief that no person is entitled to rule by divine right

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in Lord
capitalized the being worshipped as the creator and ruler of the universe let us ask humbly for the blessings of our Father in heaven

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father

2 of 2

verb

as in to sire
to become the father of Paul Revere somehow found room in his small house for the large family he had fathered

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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 father
Noun
Bolsonaro is under investigation over a sports betting case and for probe into the production of a movie about his father Jair Bolsonaro. — ABC News, 27 Oct. 2026 The Icamiabas kept the daughters and gave the sons back to their fathers, preserving the female group. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Oct. 2026
Verb
River’s investigation leads to Frank Harkness (Hugo Weaving), a former CIA officer who has fathered many sons with different women, raising the boys in a private compound in France as a private army of mercenaries. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Aug. 2026 There, her enslaver fathered her child, George, who became known as Chicken George because of his skills working gamecock fights. — Anne Haley, Time, 11 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for father
Recent Examples of Synonyms for father
  1. dad
  2. founder
  3. grandfather
  4. sire
  5. daddy
  6. creator
  7. ancestor
  8. spawn
Noun
  • Remember, parents with kids this age are also the ones that are still living with their mom and dad, have to have coloring books and fidget toys at work to settle their nerves and focus and flat out refuse to grow up.
    — Joe Kinsey OutKick, FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Every single person, apart from me and him and the guy who plays his dad, are all real people.
    — Alex Ritman, Variety, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of dad
Noun
  • Ideas my co-founder Fredrik and I used to dream up in a taxi and ship within a week now needed to be cross-checked by dozens of people across half as many departments.
    — Daniel Kjellén, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Why Airbnb’s founder became its chief recruiter Chesky thinks he was born a good founder.
    — Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of founder
Noun
  • His grandparents owned restaurants and his grandfather was one of the first butchers to cut steaks for Morton Steakhouse.
    — Donna Vickroy, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026
  • The designer’s grandfather Mario and his brother Martino opened their luggage and luxury objects store under the Fratelli Prada banner 113 years ago in Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.
    — Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of grandfather
Verb
  • Breeders could now use genetically valuable Holstein bulls more widely, and through artificial insemination, a single bull could sire more than 50,000 daughters.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Nobody complained when Pitt received the part of Louis de Pointe du Lac, a wealthy plantation owner in the late 18th century whom Lestat would eventually sire after Louis is consumed by grief over the death of his wife and child.
    — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of sire
Noun
  • Is class the best lens for understanding Hitler’s appeal, or is daddy worship?
    — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Still, there’s something to the earnestness with which the movie does finally have its daddy issues and its cetacean ones intersect.
    — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of daddy
Noun
  • The two saw that media companies were overly reliant on social media for distribution, and that profits were flowing to the likes of Facebook rather than to the creators of content.
    — Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Series creator Quinn Shephard made the very good movie Not Okay and has a strong grasp of teenage angst, so The Body seems pretty promising.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of creator
Noun
  • According to family history, DaCosta Levy’s family lineage traced to Portugal, where his ancestors had been mariners — almost certainly Sephardic Jews who scattered across the Atlantic world after the Inquisition.
    — Zachary Kranc, Sun Sentinel, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Government officials previously said that these 11 families split from a common male-line ancestor some 600 years ago, and are now at least 36 degrees of kinship from Naruhito.
    — Chad de Guzman, Time, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of ancestor
Verb
  • In Albania, where anger over development in a nature preserve has spawned an antigovernment movement, protesters hurled Molotov cocktails.
    — The Week US, TheWeek, 26 Oct. 2026
  • The group has also spawned multiple side projects, including 50FootWave and Lakuna.
    — Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of spawn

Phrases Containing father

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fatheads
father
fathered
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Cite this Entry

“Father.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/father. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about father

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