Forerunner
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.
Words to choose between 6
| playful | |
|---|---|
| warm | |
| professional | |
| formal | |
| literary |
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playful
Fits when bold first action clears a path for others
Careful Trailblazer is promotional and centers heroism.
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warm
Fits when a person opens a new field through action
Careful Pioneer is wrong for an object or passive early sign.
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professional
precursor
Fits when an earlier form leads to a later development
Careful Precursor can be chemical or causal without deliberate pioneering.
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professional
prototype
Fits when an early model tests the later design
Careful A prototype is deliberately experimental, unlike many forerunners.
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formal
predecessor
Fits when the earlier holder or version came directly before
Careful A predecessor need not influence what followed.
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literary
harbinger
Fits when an early sign indicates what is coming
Careful Harbinger predicts rather than prepares the way.
Opposites 3
- successor
- follower
- latecomer
Common phrases 3
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forerunner of
The early cooperative was a forerunner of repair cafes.
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important forerunner
That small journal became an important forerunner.
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direct forerunner
The 1980 model was the direct forerunner of today's device.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Vininn126, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 Updated