forerunner
5 synonyms and 2 antonyms for forerunner, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — A person who runs at the head of a group, ahead of the others.
Synonyms
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. noun
A person who runs at the head of a group, ahead of the others.
Opposites
2. noun
Something that comes before an event and hints at what is about to happen.
Opposites
3. noun
An earlier member of a family or group who came before the current ones.
“Bakelite is a forerunner of today's plastics.”
Opposites
Etymology
Came from Middle English forrenner, foreriner, a calque of Latin praecursor (“one who runs before, a forerunner”). It can be analysed as fore- and runner, and/or as forerun and -er.
Full origin of forerunner →