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successor

noun

Simple meaning

A thing or person that immediately replaces something or someone.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

suhksehser

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

səkˈsɛsɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A thing or person that immediately replaces something or someone

  2. A person or thing that immediately follows another in holding an office or title.

  3. A person who inherits some title or office

  4. A person who follows next in order

  5. The next heir in order or succession.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A thing or person that immediately replaces something or someone

Used this way, successor is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use successor

  • “He was President Lincoln's successor.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Immediately / inherits

immediate successorsuccessor trustee

Other combinations

worthy successorsuccessor statepossible successorlegitimate successornatural successor

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • successfuladjectiveDerived adjective

    Having succeeded or being marked by a favorable outcome.

  • successfullyadverbDerived adverb

    With success.

  • successivelyadverbDerived adverb

    In proper order or sequence.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: thing or person that immediately replaces something

replacement

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.