1
as in forerunner
something belonging to an earlier time from which something else was later developed
the abacus is sometimes cited as the archetype of the modern digital calculator
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in original
something from which copies are made
Beowulf is considered by some scholars to be the archetype for medieval British heroic tales
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of archetype
There are faces you’re sort of used to seeing, or faces you’re used to seeing paired with a certain stereotype or archetype.
—
Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 9 Oct. 2025
Ruggedness, dependability, and handiness define a lot of outdoor archetypes, from the ski patroller to the river guide to the park ranger.
—Outside Online, 8 Oct. 2025
Smith fits the archetype and is a stash candidate with huge upside.
—Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Oct. 2025
Its supreme confidence in its own vision, coupled with a gorgeous score from Tangerine Dream, makes Near Dark the most valuable addition to the (unfortunately rather small) group of films that mix horror with Western archetypes.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for archetype
Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 9 Oct. 2025
Ruggedness, dependability, and handiness define a lot of outdoor archetypes, from the ski patroller to the river guide to the park ranger.
—Outside Online, 8 Oct. 2025
Smith fits the archetype and is a stash candidate with huge upside.
—Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Oct. 2025
Its supreme confidence in its own vision, coupled with a gorgeous score from Tangerine Dream, makes Near Dark the most valuable addition to the (unfortunately rather small) group of films that mix horror with Western archetypes.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for archetype
Recent Examples of Synonyms for archetype
Noun
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Compared to their forerunners in the tsarist era, with their party congresses held abroad, their executive committees, and their active recruitment in imperial Russia’s universities, Soviet dissidents remained a comparatively small and informal conglomeration of activists.—
Benjamin Nathans
September 24,
Literary Hub,
24 Sep. 2025
-
The event turned out to be a forerunner to the UN Earth Summit.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The latter synthesizes a half-dozen Vincente Minnelli-meets-Marilyn musical numbers, minus the sweat and soul of the originals.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
11 Oct. 2025
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Both Countdown and Butterfly debuted to positive fanfare this past summer, ranking within Nielsen's Top 10 streaming originals charts.—
Jessica Wang,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
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In a personal tie, her paternal ancestors were the owners of the woollen manufacturer and merchant, William Lupton & Co, which was based in Leeds.—
Stephanie Petit,
PEOPLE,
14 Oct. 2025
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It was owned by the Torriani-Avanti family for more than 300 years, and yes, the same family whose ancestors now rest in Florence’s Santa Croce alongside Michelangelo and Galileo.—
Abby Montanez,
Robb Report,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark A prototype for many parks that have been fashioned after it (most notably Disney’s theme parks), Tivoli Gardens has been an escape for Danes and tourists since its gates first opened in 1843.—
Zachary Laks,
Travel + Leisure,
17 Oct. 2025
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Cartweel Robotics aims to debut its full-body walking Yogi prototype at the Humanoids Summit held in Silicon Valley this December.—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
17 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The event is a precursor to the major United Nations Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil, next month.—
Meredith Kile,
PEOPLE,
10 Oct. 2025
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Some people in this group had Alzheimer’s dementia, others had what is called mild cognitive impairment of the Alzheimer’s type (which is sometimes a precursor to the disease) while another group with no evidence of dementia or cognitive decline served as a control.—
Robert Martone,
Scientific American,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Two sources told Fortune that Amazon’s human resources division—known internally as PXT or the People eXperience Technology team—will be hard hit, but that other areas of Amazon’s core consumer business are also likely to be affected.—
Jason Del Rey,
Fortune,
15 Oct. 2025
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The results weren't perfect — for the third quarter in a row, Wells Fargo missed the consensus estimate for NII, a crucial revenue source for traditional banks.—
Jeff Marks,
CNBC,
14 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Archetype.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/archetype. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.
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