Forerunner
n.hopeful, capableprofessional
What it means
A pioneer who prepares the way for later progress.
Reach for it when naming a person or thing that precedes and prepares the way for later development
The early cooperative was a forerunner of today's repair cafes.
Choose between these
6- playful
bold first action clears a path for others
not when Trailblazer is promotional and centers heroism.
- warm
a person opens a new field through action
not when Pioneer is wrong for an object or passive early sign.
- professional
precursor
an earlier form leads to a later development
not when Precursor can be chemical or causal without deliberate pioneering.
- professional
prototype
an early model tests the later design
not when A prototype is deliberately experimental, unlike many forerunners.
- formal
predecessor
the earlier holder or version came directly before
not when A predecessor need not influence what followed.
- literary
harbinger
an early sign indicates what is coming
not when Harbinger predicts rather than prepares the way.
Said against
3- successor
- follower
- latecomer
It naturally appears in
3- forerunner of
The early cooperative was a forerunner of repair cafes.
- important forerunner
That small journal became an important forerunner.
- direct forerunner
The 1980 model was the direct forerunner of today's device.
Where this comes from
- wiktionary, English noun sense: predecessor or advance indicator opens in a new tab · retrieved 2026-07-26
The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.