Definition successor in American English

successor noun

[countable] noun

/səkˈsesər/

someone who has an important position after someone else. Someone who has the position before someone else is called their predecessor

Example

They haven't yet named a successor to the outgoing CEO.

Example

His successor as president of the council was Enrique Baron.

Example

the meeting to appoint a successor to Dr. Yates

Example

He had been widely regarded as a possible successor to Kohl.

Synonyms and related words

colleague counterpart associate

Explore Thesaurus

1.1

used about something such as an organization or machine that replaces something that did the same job before

Example

The Russian Federal Security Service is the main successor to the KGB.

Synonyms and related words

assignee replacement substitute

1.2

used about someone who continues the work of, or who reaches the standard of, someone who came before them

Example

Synonyms and related words

assignee replacement substitute