antecedent to
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Wilson redefined “liberty” not as a natural right antecedent to the government, but as “the right of those who are governed to adjust government to their own needs and interests.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
“He felt like a direct historical antecedent to the Rupert Pupkins and Travis Bickles of the world. He fell through the cracks and we lost potentially one of our greatest presidents because of it.”
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 6, 2025
“The profound historical antecedent to this is the bounties that state governments offered that allowed slaves to be retrieved if they fled,” said Charles Derber, a sociology professor at Boston College.
From Washington Post • Feb. 22, 2022
The study attempts to put a new spin on the Triassic period by positing that the evolutionary antecedent to future dinosaurs was literally quite small.
From Salon • Jul. 9, 2020
Bob Maitland must have been, they argued, a reversion to an ancient type, a throwback to some robber baron long antecedent to William Penn. And the speculation was true.
From The Chalice Of Courage A Romance of Colorado by Brady, Cyrus Townsend
