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
Sol says she was picked on by Melanie and her girls — production rolls a tape of Melanie and Sol’s emotional conversation about Sol’s late father and experiencing homelessness. — Kathleen Walsh, Vulture, 1 Sep. 2026 Diana and Lana’s trip was put off due to the death of Marks’s father in South Africa at the end of July. — Allie Merriam, Vanity Fair, 1 Sep. 2026
Verb
Before he was arrested and convicted in connection with the 1969 murders of Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Steven Parent, and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, Manson fathered four sons with four different women. — Jessica Sager, PEOPLE, 28 July 2026 To address the dwindling number of eligible heirs, the revisions allow distant male relatives to be adopted into the imperial family to father future successors. — James Cirrone, FOXNews.com, 17 July 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
  • Aside from his family — led by baseball-lifer dad James — Vilade is loved the most in the Rays clubhouse.
    — Marc Topkin, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Other jobholders included dads with young children and women with no kids.
    — Erin Mansfield, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of dad
Noun
  • Our first person in the spotlight this week is Jeff Bezos, founder of the American private spaceflight company Blue Origin.
    — , CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Brian Hoerl, Phoenix’s co-founder and chief growth officer, said the engineers faced a problem without a clear playbook.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of founder
Noun
  • A week earlier, with Eldridge on bereavement leave, the family gathered at Arlington National Cemetery to bury his grandfather, Edward Kenney, a Korean War veteran and Purple Heart recipient who died in March.
    — Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • After her grandfather Elia Kazan adapted John Steinbeck’s novel into a celebrated film, Zoe Kazan is taking a crack at a newer retelling of the family saga.
    — Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of grandfather
Verb
  • Somebody fell out of love — a complaint sired this inspection.
    — David J. Neal July 31, Miami Herald, 31 July 2026
  • Gun Runner’s stable still has the brass nameplate of its former occupant, legendary 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, who also sired an impressive line of runners.
    — Graham Cornwell, New York Times, 19 June 2026
Definition of sire
Noun
  • Yet these survivors are so hard-wired to be fearful of their neighbors that Hig and Cima’s rusty, tentative flirtation takes place under the gaze of her daddy’s gun, a heck of a chaperone.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2026
  • At this early juncture, the O’Hare Flyer needs a Chicago train daddy, to borrow the moniker famously given to the British transit executive Andy Byford, who now is leading the overhaul of New York’s Penn Station.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of daddy
Noun
  • Throughout the first season of Furious, creator Elizabeth Meriwether and company deftly explored the idea of female vengeance, all while making Catherine into a kind of antihero for the ages.
    — Erin Qualey, Vulture, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Visual art pieces will come from Sacramento-area creators like Taner Pasamehmetoglu, Jason Silva, Ginger Thompson, Raul Mejia and second-generation neon sign artist Melissa Uroff.
    — Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of creator
Noun
  • Its rise also marks the beginning of the Hindu celebration of Pitru Paksha, during which worshippers perform rites to honor ancestors by offering prayers and food to past members of their families.
    — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 31 Aug. 2026
  • While Qingming focuses primarily on one’s own ancestors, the Hungry Ghost Festival extends offerings to wandering spirits and the unclaimed dead.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of ancestor
Verb
  • Always negotiating between interior life and attention, Yayoi Kusama had a late fame that spawned long lines and an Instagrammable way of experiencing art.
    — Maura Judkis, Washington Post, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Their beacon also recorded the chain of parent processes that spawned each install, ultimately revealing that coding agents, including Claude, OpenAI’s Codex, and Nous Research’s Hermes, were involved.
    — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 27 Aug. 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 4 Sep. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on father

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about father

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